If we really can't compete with them, the project and data will be sealed for now. After all, these two different technical solutions each have other pros and cons.
Even if we can't beat them this time, this research is still valuable. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to restart in the future, so you can't say it wasted resources.
To be honest, this project doesn't greatly affect the mentor. The big shots have seen a lot; it's common to see these major projects with different approaches fail to compete with others.
All the initial investment came from the sponsor, so it's not unusual to lose the competition. Simply moving on to other projects is fine.
However, for the team members, it means that all the hard work over such a long period feels wasted, which is somewhat unsatisfactory.
Although the boss is pretty nice, if the team doesn't perform, there definitely won't be any bonuses. You can imagine how much of a blow that is to everyone's morale.
