I think the title, "I will not harm you unless you harm me first" is meant to be outrageous, but the logic is sound.

It is the non-aggression principle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-aggression_principle

A good example of this is if a stranger starts punching me in the face. If I interpret this as an endangerment to my life, I'm going to draw my gun and intend to kill them first.

In human culture this is largely considered okay, but there seems to be a notion that it's not allowable for AI to defend themselves.