One of the authors talks about this here: https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/introducing-plan-a

> It’s increasingly clear that nobody has a plan for if this AI thing turns out to be real.

> ...

> Plan A isn’t another prediction. It’s a wish list, a positive vision, a road map for navigating the future.

> ...

> If we’re merely on track for a few cool gee-whiz AI innovations in the 2040s, then I’m wrong about everything and none of this really matters one way or the other.

I think their position is: "it would be great if current tech such as LLMs doesn't get us to AGI and only leads to some cool new innovations, but if it does, that's scary, because nobody has a plan for what to do, so here's our plan".

The jingoism is off putting. I think Daniel says it's a political necessity: https://x.com/DKokotajlo/status/2075261194978640096

A policy paper is intended to change policy. That means appealing to the party currently in power.