Most of the time these days compiler writers are not cheating like VW did. In the 1980s compiler writers would insert code to recognize performance tests and then cheat - output values hard coded into the compiler instead of running the algorithm. Which is the type of thing that VW got in trouble for.
These days most compilers are trying to make the general case of code fast and they rarely look for benchmarks. I won't say they never do this - just that it is much less common - if only because magazine reviews/benchmarks are not nearly as important as they used to be and so the incentive is gone.
These days most compilers are trying to make the general case of code fast and they rarely look for benchmarks. I won't say they never do this - just that it is much less common - if only because magazine reviews/benchmarks are not nearly as important as they used to be and so the incentive is gone.