NY school halts AI robot purchase over privacy fears, sex doll maker ties

SALAMANCA, N.Y. - An upstate New York school district’s planned use of an artificial intelligence-powered, humanoid robot in a classroom has been put on hold after parents and teachers raised concerns about the manufacturer, including that the company is linked to hyperrealistic sex dolls, according to The Associated Press. 

Big picture view:

The Salamanca City Central School District—located in Western New York's Cattaraugus County, roughly six hours west of New York City on the Allegheny Territory of the Seneca Nation—planned to deploy a $60,000 stationary robot with long dark hair, which had already been nicknamed "Sally."

School board members signed off on the purchase, saying it would help high school students interested in robotics and technology fields, per the AP. 

What they're saying:

Superintendent Mark Beehler said that the Realbotix robot would be able to help explain technical issues, as well as give students a chance to see how it is maintained and how to troubleshoot issues.

"Having a difficult time programming an Arduino board? Don’t even know what an Arduino board is? Ask Sally, and she can explain it," Beehler said, adding that the initiative is not about replacing staff. He noted the pilot program also includes a virtual, AI-powered teacher’s assistant and at-home tutoring.

While school systems across New York—including New York City public schools—have gradually adapted to software-based AI like ChatGPT in recent years, bringing a physical, humanoid robot into a public classroom introduces an entirely new frontier around ethics, boundaries and human connection.

The other side:

As word of the plan spread, state labor leaders and parents quickly raised alarms.

The pushback carried significant weight statewide, coming directly from New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the union representing more than 700,000 educators and school professionals across New York State.

NYSUT President Melinda Person sharply criticized the purchase, warning it sets a troubling precedent for public education.

"A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms," Person said. "Our students don't need robots. They need real relationships with caring adults."

Parents and teachers also expressed concerns about how students’ personal information might be collected or used by the device, per the AP. The district has maintained that the robot would not collect personal information, nor would it record video or audio.

Dig deeper:

Realbotix responded to privacy concerns by assuring families that any student-linked information would be encrypted and strictly under the district’s control, according to Associated Press reporting. It also denied that "Sally" was a repurposed sex doll, describing it as a "newly manufactured, purpose-built educational unit."

Realbotix, which says its primary business focuses on health care, education and non-adult commercial applications, is tied to Intima LLC—a company with an ownership stake in RealDoll, a longtime manufacturer of sex dolls, including AI-powered models, per the AP. 

What's next:

The controversy hit a major legal friction point for New York schools.

A state mandate requires public school districts to implement rigorous protections, data security protocols and legally binding third-party contracts whenever technology interacts with student data or classroom environments—a standard parents across the state, from Western NY to Long Island, closely monitor.

The AP reported that the district posted on social media that the program remains on hold while it continues outreach with the community and works to establish new, enhanced student data privacy agreements that comply with state standards.

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