Is this a case of saying "only X tiny percentage of a car company's spending is for the core engine features" which counts only the piston, cylinder and spark plug, but doesn't include fuel, suspension, computers, body, seating, steering, HVAC, windows, etc., etc.
It's a small but essential piece. Without it, you have some other Unix variant that isn't Linux. Most of the rest of the contents of a Linux distribution is not hard-wired to run on Linux, but is compatible with other Unix variants as well.
Are the AI and blockchain spending to improve the non-kernel parts of the operating system? A lot of speech recognition might count under AI. Similarly, secure communications and installation packaging might be under the block chain spending.
I'm not aware of anything in a mainstream Linux distribution that comes from the Linux Foundation. As I said, they're basically an education/training org. They may sponsor/fund somebody's SW development, but they don't develop anything of significance themselves AFAIK.