Embedded devs always care. Managed languages with non-deterministic GC will never be popular there.

What embedded devs end up needing are:

- ability to shove bits directly in and out of a particular memory address

- ability to write interrupt handlers with low and bounded latency (i.e. emit a different function pre/postamble)

- global mutable state

They go with Java in very specific cases, but you need big bucks to pay for something like PTC Perc Ultra, JamaicaVM or WebSphere Real Time.

Then there is microEJ as well, but their target is that performance critical code is anyway written in C and exposed to Java.

Also depending how embedded one might consider mobile phone hardware, there is Android and Android Things.

Then there are some OEMs still selling Basic, Pascal and Oberon compilers.

But in what concerns embedded domains where only Assembly and C get used, currently C++ seems to be the only one that they care to adopt. Specially given that it already enjoys the same kind of safety regulations (MISRA, DOJ and similar).

And not everyone mind you, C++ conferences keep having sessions on how to advocate to those devs.

I've seen some people using MicroPython combined with C in embedded devices. Or plain Python on embedded Linux doohickeys. Company I work for has a few embedded Linux devices running Python.