yes. I think at this point it is important to realize that in the exact moment you got hired by a company, your role changed.

You were the guy with a PhD straight from university who did top-notch research. Now, you are the guy hired to make this project work.

If your job description does not include "active research" or "follow the most recent advances in ML research" then it is not your job to know what is up - especially if it is an advancement in a subfield of ML your project is not actively interested in.