AI researchers can make any claim, the risk of getting busted is close to none.
Didn't work ? Well dataset was different
Didn't work ? Well code was different
Can I try your work ? Well it's proprietary / I don't have access / We shutdowned the cluster
But the result is guaranteed increase in salary and job opportunities.
Since these companies are publicly listed, they are by definition encouraged and encouraging to make grandiose claims in order to make themselves more attractive to investors, and they can blame the individuals if it becomes discovered.
My favorite being that Bard (PaLM version) is sentient, but it was too big this time.
Imagine a large pharmaceutical company claiming they can cure very important diseases, but the results cannot be independently verified, nor audited.
It’s ok in the short-term, but not when you make that claim during few years.