Hello . .
We could use a hook to filter those data, in their documentation it is written that result of the api is filterable, means could be edited either adding or removing a data,
I found out the following filters most likely would be used :
acf/rest_api/{type}/get_fields
acf/rest_api/{type}/prepare_item
I could create an add-on or a snipet within a hour or two to display a featured image & categories in api response :)
Thank you and regards,
Eni