The cynicism, I believe, is mostly directed at corporations themselves. Corporations, especially AI companies, are anything but inherently ethical. Their very existence has depended heavily on the use of data obtained without explicit permission, including copyrighted material. One can therefore reasonably suspect that the main purpose of having ethics teams in these companies is to boost their credibility, provide a layer of plausible accountability, or create a convenient scapegoat that can be sacrificed when necessary.