I seriously doubt Automattic had a prevailing hand in making Matt Cutts switch to Genesis. Why would they even care? They have bigger things to deal with.

I think the logical answer here is that Matt Cutts saw the prevailing SEO features of Genesis and simply decided to make a change, then got Automattic's help to do it.

People get bored and want to try new things. Matt Cutts is no different than the rest of us.

There is no sinister motive here nor any international conspiracy. Matt Mullenweg is an honest and upfront person and he has done pretty well leading the company to where it is today.

This really is much ado about nothing, but perfect fodder for all you armchair detectives. Even Columbo, Perry Mason and Jessica Fletcher could have solved this one in their sleep.