OT - Strategy games with GOOD AI

[LDiCesare]

Second, most developers are only interested in being on the team which improves graphics or designs the user interface because during a future job interview it's easier to display what visuals you've provided as compared with what AI strategies you've developed.

I am not so sure. I worked in a game company and know several developpers who worked on ai in other game companies. The devs would usually like to create a good ai, because it's an interesting problem.
However, playtesters tended to complain if the ai was too good (hard) in some games. The difficulty of the ai is aimed at casual players, and developping something more elaborate would only be interesting for a small part of the market, and cost a lot to develop.
Galciv had a better than average ai, and Elemental probably will, because the CEO codes it himself because it's his pet peeve. Opening the code can of course leads to even better ai, as Civ IV showed. I have good expectations for Elemental too.