Condolences. I guess it's nice to know that something close to what you dreamed of will be built. But it would have been even nicer to know that it'll be built with your name on it :-) I'm currently trying to finish writing a textbook before being scooped by (of all people) the guy who suggested I write it. But whenever his comes out, it'll be aimed at a different audience, so there'll still be a niche for mine.

If they're taking the thing open-source, it's not clear how much difference "being hired by Google" would make, except perhaps in initial cred. But it might be worth calling somebody at Google, showing them what you've already got, and exchanging ideas.

I interviewed at Google (NYC) a few years ago, on the theory that I'd take a year or so off from academia and come back with a better notion of how software development is actually done "in the trenches". Didn't get an offer, but had some interesting discussions with employees, and I have an idea of what mistakes I made in interviewing (which I hadn't done in ten years or so).