Ilya's comments about status could indeed be explained by the hypothesis that he's attempting some kind of sneaky second-order status manoeuvre. They could also be explained by his meaning what he says and genuinely not caring much (consciously or otherwise) about status here on LW. To me, the second looks at least as plausible as the first.

More precisely: I doubt anyone is ever completely 100% unaffected by status considerations; the question is how much; Ilya's claim is that in this context the answer is "negligibly"; and I suggest that that could well be correct.

You may be correct to say it isn't. But if so, it isn't enough just to observe that someone motivated by status might say the things Ilya has, because so might someone who in this context is only negligibly motivated by status. You need either to show us something Ilya's doing that's substantially better explained in status-seeking terms, or else give a reason why we should think him much more likely to be substantially status-seeking than not a priori.

[EDITED to add: I have no very strong opinion on whether and to what degree Ilya's comments here are status manoeuvres.]