NEW YORK (AP) — A school district in a rural corner of upstate New York is hitting pause on plans to deploy an AI-powered, humanoid robot in the classroom after state education officials, teachers and local residents raised concerns, including the maker's ties to a company that produces hyper realistic sex bots.
The Salamanca City Central School District's board approved the nearly $60,000 purchase from Realbotix with visions that “Sally,” as the stationary robot with long dark hair has already been nicknamed, would enhance the education of high school students studying robotics and technology fields.
“Having a difficult time programming an Arduino board? Don’t even know what an Arduino board is? Ask Sally and she can explain it,” Superintendent Mark Beehler, said Tuesday. “The robot also provides opportunities for students to learn how the robot is maintained, how it is updated with new approved content, and how to troubleshoot issues.”
But as news spread in the small community located on the Seneca Nation of Indians reservation, parents and teachers worried about how students' personal information would be used. Unionized teachers took aim at Realbotix's sex doll sister company, even as district officials and the company itself stressed the two manufacturers operate independently.
“A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms,” said Melinda Person, president of the labor union New York State United Teachers.
For now, the robot pilot remains on hold as the district works through “enhanced student data privacy agreements” with the state education officials and continues outreach to the community, according to a statement the district posted Friday on its Facebook page.
State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said she remained concerned about the robot’s role in the classroom even after her staff met with district officials.
“Although you confirmed that the robot would not have any role delivering classroom instruction, a recent presentation to the board characterized the robot as a ‘tutoring platform,' ” Rosa wrote in a letter to the district Friday.
She also echoed residents’ concerns about what data privacy and security protections would be in place.
Unionized teachers, meanwhile, suggested the effort was a first step toward replacing, flesh-and-bone educators. “Sally” will be able to move her arms and hands but have nonworking legs.
“Our students don’t need robots," Person said. "They need real relationships with caring adults.”
Beehler stressed the pilot, which also includes rollout of a virtual, AI-powered teacher’s assistant and at-home tutoring program, is not about replacing staff.
“There is no possible way a robot can replace a human in a school,” he said Tuesday. “Even if it were possible, it would in no way be in the best interest of students. Teaching is a human-to-human process.”
Beehler, who was connected to Realbotix through a former colleague, said the Las Vegas-based company was a natural fit because its robots are already programmed with WozEd, a curriculum from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak that the district uses.
Last year, a San Diego charter school rolled out two AI-powered robots purchased from Engineered Arts, a robotics company based in the United Kingdom, for $500,000.
Salamanca Schools, in social media posts, stressed that “Sally” won’t be collecting students’ personal information, recording audio or video of its interactions or sending data back to Realbotix.
The robot also has been programmed to steer clear of inappropriate topics such as sex, violence and gambling, and it won’t be able to search the public internet or draw answers from unvetted generative AI services.
Instead, all information on “Sally” will be stored locally, with the life-sized robot consuming roughly the same amount of energy as a laptop, according to the district.
Realbotix added Tuesday that student authentication would be handled through the district’s existing systems, and any student-linked information would remain encrypted and under the district’s control.
The company also pushed back at suggestions that “Sally” was simply a repurposed sex doll, saying it was a “newly manufactured, purpose-built educational unit” with no modified hardware.
The school’s robot comes from Realbotix LLC, which focuses on healthcare, education and other nonadult commercial applications. A sister company, Intima LLC, holds an ownership stake in RealDoll, a longtime maker of sex dolls, including a line of AI-powered models billed as the “world’s most advanced sex robot.”
“Realbotix LLC and Intima LLC have different product offerings with no crossover,” the company said in a statement last week. “The two subsidiaries maintain their own management, personnel, payroll, facilities, manufacturing operations, product development, and market strategies.”
Beehler argued that it is crucial for isolated districts like Salamanca, which is located along the Allegheny River near the Pennsylvania state line, to find new ways to introduce cutting-edge products into classrooms.
“In most cases, our students need to travel 1-2 hours to have opportunities to see emergent technology,” he said Tuesday. “One of the intents of the robot is to help level the playing field and motivate students to continue studying robotics, AI, and STEAM related career pathways.”
Some Salamanca residents, though, remain unconvinced.
Joplin Ficek, who graduated from Salamanca High School in 2024 and now works at a daycare, said she doesn’t see any reason to have robots or AI take such a prominent role at her alma mater at all.
“They just need to hire more people who are willing to put in the effort for the children,” Ficek said. “They need more interaction with the children than having some robot raise our kids.”
Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo
FILE - A Realbotix humanoid robot, center, speaks with attendees at a Realbotix booth during the CES tech show Jan. 8, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had an “excellent” meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, their first sitdown since launching a joint war against Iran and it offered Netanyahu a chance to smooth out strains in their relationship.
The closed-door meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half and was “positive and productive," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The White House did not immediately offer more details.
It comes as both leaders face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections this November.
Later on Tuesday, Iran shattered a brief period of calm in the war by launching multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the Middle East, the U.S. military said, adding that all of the Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.
An Israeli official briefed on the White House meeting said Netanyahu made it clear to Trump and his Cabinet that if Iran were to attack Israel, they would respond, but that beyond that, they would trust the judgment of the president regarding next steps. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of a private meeting.
Despite signs of tension between the two before the meeting, Netanyahu was effusive afterward in a post on Instagram, noting that the meeting included Trump's “entire senior team.”
Vice President JD Vance, who has had critical words for Israel and in June warned Israeli officials that Trump was their only friend among world leaders, was among those in the meeting.
“When I say excellent, I don’t mean it in a superficial way,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew. “A conversation with full partnership, with mutual support, with an understanding of the common goal of ensuring that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and other goals as well.”
Netanyahu later joined Vance and Trump at a funeral for Sen. Lindsey Graham, where the Israeli leader was seen speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with Trump earlier in the day.
Trump revealed some tension with Netanyahu ahead of their meeting, complaining about reports that the Israeli leader planned to discuss intelligence on Iranian activities at Pickaxe Mountain, a potential nuclear site that the U.S. president has threatened repeatedly to bomb.
“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” He insisted that whatever Iran is doing is “not a big problem” and that “Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.”
“Why do you have to announce to the world?” Trump added, flashing his frustrations with his ally.
The Israeli official said that Netanyahu reiterated to Trump during the meeting that Israel will always share its intelligence with the U.S. but that it also understands that Washington has its own timeline and considerations to factor in, including other allied countries in the region that would be affected if Washington were to escalate militarily.
Trump has had a hot-and-cold history with Netanyahu over the years, but upon his return to the White House last year, their alliance seemed stronger than ever. When they started the war together in February, it was with a united front, touting their respective militaries as acting in lockstep to take out Iran’s leadership and pave the way for a government more friendly to the West.
But as Iran fought back — sending drones and missiles slamming into U.S. bases and high-rises in cities in the Gulf, and choking off the Strait of Hormuz — Trump came under immense pressure both at home and by allies in the region to end the conflict.
Since then, Netanyahu, who wanted to continue the fighting in Iran and against its ally, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, has been sidelined as Trump sought a deal with Tehran. Disagreements with Trump and Vance have burst into the open over the war in Iran and more.
“The Americans are making it clear to the Israelis they are the ones who are running the war,” Israeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal wrote Monday in the daily newspaper Israel Hayom. “It is clear to everyone that Israel has been put in the back seat.”
Of Trump, Netanyahu said Sunday that “many ways, it’s his decision” on how to move forward. “If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?”
“But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear program,” Netanyahu told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” about Iran.
The Israeli official said the two leaders also discussed the framework agreement that the U.S. and Israel signed with Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah war and the expansion of the Abraham Accords, which have Arab and Muslim-majority nations normalize ties with Israel.
Netanyahu also needed to persuade Trump that he won’t play spoiler to U.S. diplomatic and reconstruction efforts in Gaza and Lebanon, where the president has previously complained that “too many people are being killed” by Israeli strikes.
In Lebanon, where the Israeli military occupies much of the south, Israel agreed to allow the Lebanese army to deploy to some villages as part of a “pilot program” testing its ability to secure areas where Hezbollah once operated. The U.S. State Department says the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place next week in Rome with a focus on expanding the program.
On Gaza, Israel’s security cabinet green-lit on Sunday a measure that would, in theory, grant entry to the first members of an international stabilization force outlined last year in a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Few countries have pledged troops, however, and Israel would approve their entry into Gaza on a case-by-case basis. The troops — including from Morocco and Uganda — would only be allowed to operate in a small, desolate area in Rafah in the south, where the plan is to vet and house some displaced Palestinians.
The Israeli military continues to carry out strikes it says target militants but that have also killed civilians.
Israel has lost a significant amount of bipartisan support in the United States, particularly over Gaza. An AP-NORC poll published this month found a dramatic erosion of support among American adults for Israel.
Near the White House, a small group of protesters chanted, “Netanyahu, you’re a tyrant” and “Bibi, you’re not welcome here,” referencing the prime minister’s nickname.
Cunningham reported from Jerusalem and Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Darlene Superville and Seung Min Kim in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. Cunningham reported from Jerusalem.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, attend the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., at the Washington National Cathedral, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, speaks to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, right, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, before the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Tuesday July 28, 2026, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A Lebanese military vehicle drives past homes damaged during the war in the southern village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, Lebanon, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mustafa Jamalddine)
Young men ride motorcycles along the shore as a tractor pulls equipment from the water and commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
FILE - President Donald Trump listens as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
