Well, this is really just networking effects. Also why it’s really hard to break out with your new hot dating app or social media website, no matter how much Tinder or Twitter suck. For your app to provide utility to users, it needs… users. Good luck breaking that stalemate.
Roads, or bike lanes, are a very literal network. Usefulness suddenly undergone a phase transition only when you hit the percolation point.
You’re right, but while those heuristics of “better safe than sorry” might be too conservative for some fields, they’re pretty spot on for powerful AGI, where the dangers of failure vastly outstrip opportunity costs.