Still, I'm hoping we can make something that does something in addition to that.

Their children will be fine. You don't even need a breeding population. You just need to know how to make an egg, a sperm, and an artificial uterus.

In the perhaps this whole point is moot because its unlikely an intelligence explosion will take long enough for there to be time for other researchers to construct an alternative AGI.

It might encounter another AGI as it spreads, although I don't think this point will matter much in the ensuing war (or treaty, if they decide on that).