So, the
Singularity did happen at one point, and it's stated in that comic that they (The AI of the QC universe) could enslave us, or remove our presence from the planet entirely.
This drastically affected the social/ethical/legal status of AnthroPCs in the way of a
constitutional amendment granting them equal rights as humans. (
Edit: Though, this only affects the AnthroPCs in the U.S. unless in the QC universe, all countries are centrally governed)
I believe
Is it cold in here? was referring to
this tumblr post (Ctrl-F "legal owner" .. it's about halfway down). Regardless of who purchases the hardware, the AI owns it. Therefore, Momo is paying back Marigold on moral code (Pardon the pun, couldn't find a way around it) alone.
So, they are effectively sentient robots that own their software and hardware, that share the same inalienable rights as humans, and apparently have the technology that could possibly "kill all humans" (as Bender would be apt to say) without a second subroutine processed.