i.MX8 requires blobs for HDMI. The controller will only load an NXP signed blob. No blob, no HDMI (or displayport).

https://forums.puri.sm/t/the-i-mx8-cannot-be-deblobbed-nxp-s...

But it will boot and run. It has other display outputs you may use.

That's definitely better.

But why do you trust that the silicon doesn't have any backdoors more than you trust the blob? We know for a fact that Intel puts one into the silicon, and that it takes significant reverse engineering to turn most of it off (it's not clear if all of it can be turned off at all) see e.g. https://hackaday.com/2020/06/16/disable-intels-backdoor-on-m...