They see people using DeepSeek open weights and are like "huh, that could encode the model creators' values in everything they do".

I doubt this has anything to do with 'values' one way or the other. It's just about trying to create dependencies, which can then be exploited by threatening their removal or restriction.

It's also doomed to failure because of how transparent this is, and how abused previous dependencies (like the USD) have been. Every major country will likely slowly move to restrict other major powers' AI systems while implicitly mandating their own.