We can, you can check even from Linux that the ME is dysfunctional - it will not show up on PCIe. Also if you look at the Coreboot memory logs (cbmem) then you will find error messages from Coreboot while it tries to query the ME and status.
So as far as what we can test and observer the ME is disabled, yet its firmware is indeed there and I am afraid there has not been any progress for 10th gen and onward for removing the ME firmware, what was called “neutralization”. One of the problems here is that a lot of the firmware structure is unknown so you can not be sure what is stored where and how these things interconnect. But the bigger problem is that many parts these days are also used for proper operation, at least initialization. So you can not just toss out arbitrary parts of the firmware, it will break the function of your device.
So IMHO the only way to go forward is to use the HAP to disable the ME at runtime (i.e. when the OS boots) and try to make sure we have tests to verify that it is actually disabled.
Cheers
nicole