Reliability. No one wants to hear that their supposedly intelligent robot will trip over it’s own two feet unless some teenage kid, regardless of how smart he is, is inside operating it. There’s just not much of a reason to think Max would be able to deal with being IN combat, which is exactly what he would be doing if he was sent off to war with the Golem.

If he was just a few years older, I’d be more willing to think Hightower would accept it; but as it is, I think it’s rather unlikely

Oh, he will. He certainly will.