You can argue over dyno charts all you want. All I know is Gary (Valkryderguy) got his "automatic" Crossfire to run 14.7's at the drags with nothing more than a Needswings CAI. That's nearly a 1/2 second faster than any roadtests I've seen for the automatics.
That's enough "scientific" proof for me that it's atleast "better" than the stock air intake.
I have no idea if it has any effect on your warranty or not.
It should be easy enough to remove before you take your car into the shop for any warranty work to be done I would think.