> Some people claim [1] that they paid someone from China to unlock their Pixel 1 phone remotely using some shady approach. I assume that someone with inside information from Google has leaked some software and instructions for doing so. It is unclear whether later Pixel phones sold by Verizon with locked bootloaders could be unlocked in a similar way.

This usually involves someone who has bribed a Verizon support rep or otherwise obtained access to their internal systems so they can "unlock" you.