Agree with this take. Sam previously stated (eg on Lex’s podcast) that a slow takeoff soon was his goal, to give society maximum time to adjust and to prevent an unexpected fast takeoff from capability overhang. I bought his take when he said it.

Going off and trying to accelerate hardware capabilities (especially with an outside company that presumably sells these processors on the open market) seems indefensible in this framework unless you have already solved alignment, which they clearly have not.