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Heat pumps (which are basically just air conditioners running in reverse) do "create" energy.
By that I mean that they provide much more heating energy than the electricity they consume, because what they do is move heat that's already there outside (but diffuse) and concentrate it in your house.
Air conditioners cannot create energy (that is literally impossible) but they do move energy out of your home. So some models are now able to move that energy underground in the summer, where the heat doesn't dissipate much at all, then re-use it in the winter as a heat pump to heat your home, making them both more eco-friendly and cheaper to run !
Heat pumps no more "create" energy as air conditioners do, as they're the exact same thing.
They simply move heat. No more, no less.
That you see moving heat to inside a container as "creating" hear doesn't make it so - it's just moving energy (as heat) from one container to another, same as AC, because it is an AC unit with a reversing valve (as you mentioned).
Saying they "create more heating energy than they consume" is accurate only if you compare it to using electric to heat using resistive heating on a per-watt basis. This is always the part people leave out when they say it's "500% more efficient".
Labels on electric space heaters saying 100% efficient have the same issue. While technically true in that all the electricity is turned to heat, it's a meaningless statement.
Resistive heating has never been a good idea, ask anyone who's had a home with resistive where heat is actually required on a regular basis. It's pretty easy to beat resistive.
I have nothing against heat pumps, it's a solid tech that's been with us as AC for 120 years, and specifically as heat pump for about 60 years. My only dislike is they depend on forced air which I personally find less comfortable than radiant.
Utility power plants don't "create" energy (because laws of conservation of matter and energy), but the terminology of utility power "production" is not controversial
Oh great, we can't call it 'power production' anymore. Now we have to call it 'power accumulation'. What next? You want everyone to swap the electron negative and positive symbols? Are you electron-negative you want that?