San Francisco is considering authorizing its police department to sometimes use remote-controlled robots to kill: The robot might deliver a bombs or a grenade, or perhaps might even include a remote-controlled firearm (though I'm not sure which options would be available at the outset). This has been reported with headlines such as, "Robots would have license to kill" and "San Francisco police propose allowing robots to kill in 'rare and exceptional' circumstances."
But to my knowledge none of these would involve any autonomy on the robot's part; a human being will push the button, just as today a human being can pull a trigger. My view is much the same as it was when this was done in Dallas in 2016 to stop a mass shooter: If the police reasonably believe that someone poses an imminent danger of death to others, and that killing him is necessary to prevent that danger, they can try to kill him, whether with a rifle or a bomb-carrying robot. A robot is a weapon, albeit one that isn't stymied by corners or walls the way a rifle would be.
