From everything I'm seeing it seems like this could be the case. I remember Dan talking about breaking apart the chain into specialised interlinked parts (like how it's done with a database cluster) so that apps can be added and removed and changed easier. I'd be willing to bet that's what he's doing next, starting from scratch, implementing a scalable, modular, non-io-bound version of graphene that works as a library for witnesses operating on different chains (and as clients to other chains to form the links between them).
This would more easily enable the building of a fully autonomous DAC.