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Robotics company Realbotix has long struggled to beat the allegations that its voluptuous humanoid robots are designed with prurient interests in mind.
Its $175,000 robotic companion, dubbed Aria, is platinum blonde, well-endowed, and tends to be decked out in tight-fitted sportswear at tech conventions. Yet the company has insisted she’s not a sex doll, leading to plenty of incredulity online.
It’s also hard to ignore that Realbotix has an extensive X-rated past. Its subsidiary RealDoll showed off the first-ever male sex bot back in 2022, which featured robotic genitals. (Before robots, Realbotix rented out dubious “digital land” in the metaverse.)
Now, as New York Focus reports, the Salamanca City Central School District in western New York was looking to deploy one of the company’s humanoids, dubbed Sally, in the classroom. The AI-enabled robot would reportedly serve as a teaching assistant for high school students enrolled in STEM and arts courses.
It’s hard not to see the company’s sex robot roots in Sally’s visage. The $57,000 android has smooth silicone skin, a dazed expression on her face, and an ill-fitting wig made of long brown hair.
After this story was first published, an attorney representing Realbotix reached out to emphasize what he said was a total divide between the part of the company that manufactures sex robots and the part responsible for non-sex robots like Sally.
“Realbotix Corp is a holding company with two separately operated businesses: Realbotix LLC, which focuses on AI-powered humanoid robotics for commercial service sector applications, and Intima LLC, which focuses on direct-to-consumer products,” the attorney said, in a statement echoing a press releasethe company issued last week. “Realbotix LLC and Intima LLC have different product offerings with no crossover. As a holding company, Realbotix Corp does not in itself have business operations but is responsible for managing capital markets, shareholders, listing requirements and accounting needs. The two subsidiaries maintain their own management, personnel, payroll, facilities, manufacturing operations, product development, and market strategies.”
“Realbotix LLC does not design, manufacture, or sell adult products,” the statement continued. “No Intima LLC or RealDoll employees, contractors, products, inventory, blueprints or technology are involved in Realbotix LLC’s design, engineering, manufacturing, deployment, or customer support whatsoever. All education, healthcare, wellness, and enterprise initiatives are conducted exclusively through Realbotix LLC. Realbotix LLC and Intima LLC are different legal entities that are independently operated. The two entities do not share employees, products, inventory, manufacturing resources, or technology.”
Also after this story was first published, the Salamanca City Central School District announced that it was putting the deployment on holdafter feedback from the community.
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