Just a few more points:
I think a Canon collaboration is out of the question. They deliberately cripple the cameras.
I'm trying to see ML as an addon, a piece of software installed on a machine, to patch the original software. I don't need to tell you that there are millions of cases where people charge money for addons/plugins. Legally, if the right steps are followed, I'm sure it can be done, without upsetting Canon. After all, you are driving camera sales.
With a decent payment, I'm sure there will be people willing to learn to work on ML, if the current devs won't want to quit their jobs.
Where do you get the money? I would like to believe that there are a lot more quiet ML users out there, especially businesses, that with a promise of a stable product, would chip in to make that happen.
And finally, if you set up a not-for-profit organization, a business, a charity or whatever else, there will be the option to apply for grants, do some proper marketing and stop being a garage band.
The most difficult thing and probably the pitfall, is managing people to get a thing going.
