I expect deals between AIs to make sense at the stage that AI 2027 describes because the AIs will be uncertain what will happen if they fight.
If AI developers expected winner-take-all results, I’d expect them to be publishing less about their newest techniques, and complaining more about their competitors’ inadequate safety practices.
Beyond that, I get a fairly clear vibe that’s closer to “this is a fascinating engineering challenge” than to “this is a military conflict”.
Yet the stock prices of nuclear-related companies that I’m following have done quite well this month (e.g. SMR). There doesn’t seem to be a major threat to nuclear power.