Your first instinct should be to assume that anything released voluntarily by these companies is a stunt to boost their valuation. They haven't demonstrated being deserving of any more charitable treatment. This fact remains true whether or not you happen to believe that the models are actually capable of such things.
Are you claiming that an independent investigation is actually a marketing stunt?
"This fact remains true" - you have not stated any sort of fact.
You actualy think METR is complicit in this marketing stunt? If OpenAI was withholding data, do you think they would not call it out?