It's 100% a scam, and it's obviously a scam. They are not slowing down their efforts in any meaningful way, just the progress because they are hitting a wall. They want regulatory capture and an excuse to pump the brakes and slow the money burn, even if that is before their models reache even half way up the bar of what they were promising.

And this is coming from somebody who is, as a whole, positive on AI being useful.