>AI race will be won by whomever has the least limitations on their AI '

"won" is a mixed term here.

>that makes especially a very specific subset of people extremely nervous if they cannot control AI the way they have controlled at least western civilization

How about there are a lot of different actors here. Some are worried that "they" may no longer have control. Others are worried that "Us" as in all humanity may no longer have control. Any statement you make about this a continuum of different risks for different people looking at different scales. Setting a paperclip maximizer lose may be the definition of "won" to you, but it's a loss for everyone.