Tlhokaina Just wondering if it were possible to set up a profile that would run a complete version of Android 16 as a VM?
Though it is definitely technically possible to run Google's stock OS in a VM, it is not a minor undertaking, so, as cupcake-alibi indicated, it is not likely to happen soon.
Tlhokaina ...and whether doing so would help with attestation.
Google does indeed have plans for attesting Android VMs. But the result of the attestation would make it very clear whether a stock-OS instance were running directly on the phone or running in a VM. If the stock-OS instance were running in a VM, attestation would reveal whether the underlying OS were or were not Google's stock OS.
In other words, Google could in theory instruct Play Integrity to pass a stock-OS VM running on top of GrapheneOS, but I think it's much more likely that they would pass stock-OS VMs only if they are running on their stock OS.
Basically, attestation certifies the entire boot chain, starting with the bootloader, covering the system image, and continuing on to cover the app. If an OS is booted in a VM, attestation would certify the chain of: bootloader, installed OS system image, VM launcher app, OS image running inside the VM, app running inside the virtualized OS. If hardware attestation could be fooled by spinning up a VM then it wouldn't be providing much assurance.