Impossible intersection is supposedly never but any can still be assigned to it

Bug Report

🔎 Search Terms

intersection assign never

🕗 Version & Regression Information

This is the behavior in every version I tried (including nightly), and I reviewed the FAQ for relevant entries. But really this is a loose end left by #36696; prior to that the impossible intersection (AB below) was not never at all.

⏯ Playground Link

link

💻 Code

(modified from the example in #36696)

type A = { kind: 'a', foo: string };
type B = { kind: 'b', foo: number };

type AB = A & B;  // never, supposedly

// @ts-expect-error: Type 'any' is not assignable to type 'never'.
const n1: never = {} as any
// but this is ok
const n2: AB = {} as any

🙁 Actual behavior

any is assignable to AB, despite the fact that any is not assignable to never and AB is supposedly never (per both #36696 and hovering it)

🙂 Expected behavior

any should not be assignable to AB

Start with the linked TypeScript Playground reproduction and read the behavior described in #36696. Confirm the discrepancy between never and AB; done means the example rejects assigning any to AB while preserving the related intersection behavior.