Being pedantic the Chinese models are open weight not open source.
That said that's one of the most likely explanations.
The other is that, like all the talk of AGI wiping out humanity, it's just a distraction from the real threat, which is the surveillance state the Epstein class can create with AI.
Of course these aren't mutually exclusive either. They could be preparing to lobby for the licensing of AI hardware, effectively banning personal ownership of it. Which would force anyone who wants to use AI to use their centralised servers where they can spy on every prompt.