ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Lawmakers in New York proposed a bill that would ban arming robots and drones. As part of the announcement, they held a press conference at the State Capitol with Spot, a Boston Dynamics robot vaguely reminiscent of a dog.

The Responsible Robotics Act is supposed to protect communities and maintain public trust in the rapidly advancing technology industry. S3133/A399 would prohibit making, modifying, selling, transferring, equipping, or operating robots—or “uncrewed aircraft”—mounted with weapons like firearms, stun guns, machine guns, chemical agents, kinetic projectiles, lasers, flamethrowers, and explosives.

The Act outlaws using any such machines—whether they follow commands or rely on automatic sensors, data, or artificial intelligence—to hurt someone or harass them. Anyone who mounts a weapon on a robot or drone would face anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 in penalties. The law also lets victims of weaponized robots sue. The law would also authorize the Attorney General to bring legal action.

Still, some robots with law enforcement-related purposes have carve-outs in the bill. “These are operations that protect public safety, and they are conducted by experienced officials,” said Brendan Schulman Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at Boston Dynamics. He played the role of Spot’s puppeteer at Tuesday’s press conference. “That’s why they’re outside the scope of this legislation.”

Defense industrial companies working with the military and developers testing new robot safety measures would also fall outside the ban. Bomb squads would also still be able to use weaponized machines for training, bomb disposal, and emergencies. Law enforcement can also still use them on private property or for surveillance if they get a warrant. And law enforcement officials would also have to publicly report on their use of such robots.

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