But that doesn't say anything about being related in any way with Android code, does it?
Also I think since kernel 3.3 Android uses the exact same kernel as other Linux distros. The Android kernel got merged with the normal Linux kernel. So I don't see why it would be a problem for them to use the same kernel.
Not everything from Android is in the mainline kernels. There are still a few bits that are Android specific that would need to be reworked to even be accepted into staging.
There has been a lot of great ARM work lately in mainline too but there are still quite a few drivers missing that you can't even get docs for (even with signing NDAs) so the drivers for mainline get written based on the BSP-ish kernel drivers which aren't always written the best.
He never said it did. He said that they can use Android kernel and drivers. That doesn't mean it's using Android's java environment, just the kernel and drivers beneath it.
Also I think since kernel 3.3 Android uses the exact same kernel as other Linux distros. The Android kernel got merged with the normal Linux kernel. So I don't see why it would be a problem for them to use the same kernel.