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I can just as easily mount a weapon to my car and drive around killing people. How is this any different?

None, until you equip the dog with an AI that decides on its own when to kill people. I am pretty sure this is what the OP meant.

Hackers like George Hotz can and have decided to equip their cars with AI.[1] Again, how is this any different?

[1] https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/7/15933554/george-hotz-hacki...

People are hacking on everything from micro-drones to full sized cars. Why single out this platform? Explosive on drones or automated weapons on cars could all be misused.

In this context "People are hacking everything" is not entirely reassuring.

You really have no problem with a George Hotz purchasing a bot, soldering guns to it, installing some form of AI that controls the trigger, and then letting it loose into the world? Seems a bit irresponsible.

But to answer you questions about the legality all this - I don't know. Tesla and Uber are putting autopilots in their cars. Is that legal? Apparently, it is. Yet, those autopilots are already killing people. So expect a regulatory backlash, once enough people die.

I hope it won't take a massacre perpetrated by a buggy AI with a gun to get us there.

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