In the discussion about AI-based vs. upload-based singularities, and the expected utility of pushing for WBE (whole-brain emulation) first, has it been taken into account that an unfriendly AI is unlikely to do something worse than wiping out humanity, while the same isn't necessarily true in an upload-based singularity?

"Yes" in the sense that people are aware of the argument, which goes back at least as far as Vernor Vinge, 1993, but "no" in the sense that there are also arguments that it may not be highly unlikely that a failed attempt at FAI will be worse than extinction (especially since some of the FAI proposals, such as Paul Christiano's, are actually very closely related to uploading), and also "no" in the sense that we don't know how to take into account considerations like this one except by using our intuitive judgments which seem extremely unreliable.