A Twitter user going by the handle @momomo_us, who has some credit as a prolific leaker, has found a Lenovo datasheet of a laptop that features new Intel 9000 series mobile CPUs. While the document does not specify core count, clock speed, or other specifications, it does confirm that these CPUs are based on the Whiskey Lake architecture which launched in early October and implies that these new CPUs are refreshes of previous 8000 series Whiskey Lake CPUs.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-datasheet-confirms-existence-of-new-Intel-9000-series-mobile-CPUs.368351.0.html
Maybe they're trying to get to 10th gen for 10nm
or maybe the whole serie, not just 9000 mobile is a rebadge lol