The megalomania of the SIAI crowd in claiming that they are the world-savers would worry me if I thought they might actually pull something off.

I also think they look rather ineffectual from the outside. On the other hand they apparently keep much of their actual research secret - reputedly for fears that it will be used to do bad things - which makes them something of an unknown quantity.

I am pretty sceptical about them getting very far with their projects - but they are certainly making an interesting sociological phenomenon in the mean time!