Earlier quoted context omitted.
They allegedly believe the technology itself is a nuclear weapon tier threat or greater, so why does it matter which lab they are trying to achieve it at?
They're trying to make it not be a threat, and are all scared and afraid that their best efforts to make it harmless are not enough. Some are worried by the AI directly bringing doom; others are worried that one of the companies who control the AI will become a dictator; still more think becoming a dictator is a necessary step to safely prevent anyone else making unsafe AI. Painting them all under one brush is like d…
What happens when everyone else (who is not so careful) gets to the same threshold three months later? How does them getting there first stop that happening?
It's an utterly self-serving argument and it's not even internally consistent.