Unless clearly proven otherwise it’s most likely venting into the room.
I don't really know how it's code but it might be because there's often a window in the room that can be used instead?
I think that's how some bathrooms got away with not having a vent too.
It is indeed almost pointless. If there’s a filter it does at least help a little but many people wouldn’t even know to think about maintaining a filter.
"You can have carbon filters, why the ugly pipe?" they have said. I prevailed and have a venting one now.
A rare situation of course, but it has happened to me a handful of times over the years (and also the opposite - ventilator in kitchen running at max, kitchen window closed, living room wood stove going, the vent sucks smoke from the living room wood stove and the smoke detector goes off).
As to the other comment - my ventilator doesn't have a carbon filter and I have little experience with those. I recon it will remedy some of the problems with re-venting back into the room compared with the alternative (using nothing). And I've seen vents in Japan with carbon filters, or at least something similar - but they vent outside, not inside. I wonder though about all the other kind of fumes from cooking, the metal-grid "filter" in my vent gets quite greasy and needs to be washed and cleaned now and then.
[1] https://www.bora.com/be/de/kochfeldabzugssysteme/bora-s-pure...
Also, pressure cookers have a vent on the top and blow the steam up.
Also what happens to spillages? Edit: they do say this - "If anything is spilt during cooking, the integrated tray safely catches both solids and liquids." - yeah that's gonna go well.
Like another commenter says, this is total garbage.
Hot stuff from your stove will naturally rise, so capturing it above the stove is much better.