AI will explain it, but it's against HN rules for me to post the explanation.
Basically they are misleading when they say "thermal equilibrium", same physical temperature does not imply thermal equilibrium.
But it should. If you can get energy to flow one way between things at the same physical temperature that seems to violate thermodynamics and allow for perpetual motion.
Thanks for not being a fuckwad who just copies an AI answer. I appreciate you understanding it and putting it in your own words.
FWIW, the "Significance" blurb at the very top says as much:
> An interesting feature of the system is that all components of the system are at the same physical temperature, but it functions because they have different noise temperatures.
(I assume it's not AI-generated.)