A school district in western New York has paused its plan to place a humanoid robot in a high school classroom this fall, following intense public backlash and pressure from the state's education department over student privacy concerns and questions about the technology's readiness for classroom use. Salamanca City Central School District announced Friday afternoon in a Facebook post that its pilot project with tech company Realbotix had been paused while officials "work through enhanced student data privacy agreements" with the state education agency. The announcement came hours after state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa sent a letter to Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler expressing reservations, writing, "The Department remains concerned about the effect that a humanoid robot may have within a high school classroom." The district had intended to introduce the robot this fall alongside a related artificial intelligence teacher's assistant program, with the local school board approving the $57,590 investment last month. The robot, named Sally by Realbotix, was designed with silicone skin and long brown hair, remaining seated while offering academic help, including real-time translation support in more than 100 languages. Realbotix, a Toronto-based company formerly known as Tokens.com, acquired Simulcra, the Las Vegas-based parent company behind RealDoll, a maker of hyperrealistic sex dolls, in April 2024, a connection that became a central point of criticism.