New York school district halts plan to use humanoid robot amid backlash

The Realbotix humanoid robot is demonstrated at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 6 January 2026. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The Realbotix humanoid robot is demonstrated at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 6 January 2026. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images New York school district halts plan to use humanoid robot amid backlash Salamanca City Central says it is pausing project with Realbotix as it addresses concerns including data privacy A New York school district has walked back plans to introduce a humanoid robot at its high school after the proposal sparked backlash from educators and community members. The Salamanca City Central school district announced on 24 July in a social media post that its pilot project with Toronto-based tech company Realbotix had been put on hold “while we work through enhanced student data privacy agreements with the New York State Education Department and continue engaging with our community and stakeholders”. “Ensuring that appropriate privacy protections are in place and incorporating input from our community are important parts of the process. We appreciate your patience and will share additional updates as they become available,” added the school district, which is located on the Seneca Nation reservation in upstate New York and serves a large Native American population. The reversal came after widespread criticism of the program, which would have brought a humanoid robot named Sally to Salamanca high school. According to a Realbotix press release issued in June, the approximately $58,000 robot with silicone skin and brown hair was intended to use “natural conversation, facial expressions and real-time interaction to create engaging, hands-on learning experiences”. “The robot aims to encourage student participation and provide early exposure to emerging technologies,” the company also said. ‘Really inappropriate’: teachers decry plan for humanoid robot in New York high school Read more A little more than two years before Friday’s announcement, Realbotix acquired Simulacra, a Las Vegas-based company that manufactures sex dolls. The New York State United Teachers union had condemned the plans calling for high schoolers to be taught by a humanoid robot. “A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms,” Melinda Person, the union president, said in a 23 July statement. Person added: “Our students don’t need robots. They need real relationships with caring adults. Educators notice when students are struggling, celebrate when they succeed and help them discover who they can become. No robot can do that, no matter how lifelike its skin or specific its regional accent.” Lacey Pihlblad, the president of the Salamanca Teachers’ Association and a teacher at the high school, also criticized the proposal, saying : “The Salamanca teachers’ union as a whole is concerned about t