I’ve known this was coming for a while and I can finally see it in my tenant! KQL support for the highlighted content web part has finally arrived. Knock yourself out and surface content any way you want via search, (as long as the visuals cover your needs).
If you’re really crazy and bold, target the web part to a list/library and crank out your favorite CAML queries as well – not sure why you would ever go there though :D