I've posted about this before, but there are many aspects of AI safety that we can research much more effectively once strong AI is nearer to realization. If people today say "AI could be a risk but it would be hard to get a good ROI on research dollars invested in AI safety today", I'm inclined to agree.

Therefore, it won't simply be interest in X-risk, but feasibility of concrete research plans on how to reduce it that help advance any AI safety agenda.