Yes, you could emulate an x86-64 CPU with SSE2 (aka x86-64-v1), but that is no longer sufficient for lots of modern x86 code. Windows 11 wants SSE4.2 at least or else it won't even boot.
As Arstechnica wrote, Intel specifically warned that they hold patents on emulating the more recent instruction sets.
As Arstechnica wrote, Intel specifically warned that they hold patents on emulating the more recent instruction sets.