The Rise of 'Killer Police Robots' and Advanced AI Drones

Facts Matter

A killer robot might soon be teamed up with police officers.

Last year, the California state legislature passed into law California Assembly Bill 481, which requires all police departments in California to conduct an inventory of all military-grade weapons in their possession; requires the police departments to lay out very specific policy instructions on how their officers can use this equipment; and requires the different police departments to resubmit these documents for approval every year in order to continue to use their equipment.

To comply with this new law, the different cities in California have been scrambling to put together these documents in order.

Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors received, voted on, and approved the San Francisco Police Department's law enforcement equipment policy—and part of this policy includes language that will allow the SFPD to utilize what they call human-controlled robots.