Those are orthogonal arguments
Being able to "pause" a running entity is not an argument for or against it being sentient. It's merely a question of substrate and available technology.
- In theory one could pause a human by freezing them, then thawing as some animals do this. In fact more than one human has undergone an effective pause ... continue cycle due to extreme hypothermia.
Intelligence being curious is an argument about intelligence, not sentience. There are many humans that appear to have lost all curiosity, and while I'll accept calling them unintelligent, I'd still argue for their sentience.
A lot of the problem in this field is that there's no accepted definitions for either sentience or sapience.