Trust, but verify. That was good advice for dealing with the Soviet Union in its heyday, and it's equally sound policy today when dealing with that other Evil Empire. You know, the one in Redmond? Now ...
At least for now, though, it seems like this change will only apply to future Windows versions. We were able to activate a fresh Windows 11 Pro 22H2 install with a Windows 8 Pro product key as of this ...