[FakeComments]

Nothing, I think it was hardware that was included because they might one day add a feature which used it, under the belief that customers would want that.

What I think is nefarious is not informing customers about that latent capability, because denying customers that information increased sales (eg, by not informing people who would be concerned by the mic).

A lie of omission for “good intentions” often is actually just denying the other person the information that they need to make an informed decision, for your own benefit.

That seems to be what Google did here.