Interesting article about Artificial General Intelligence and the Singularity. The article is by Ben Goertzel who is the CEO and Chief Scientist of AI firm Novamente LLC and bioinformatics firm Biomind LLC.
He mentions an AI Manhattan project could achieve success withing 5 years. However, I believe his Venture funded company could get more funding and revenue if it hits various milestones so that if his designs are viable that they would not be significantly slower than an AI Manhattan project. Two more increasing rounds of investment and then a buyout by Google or Microsoft to get the rest of the way.

Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.