Controversy Over $500,000 AI Humanoid Purchase at California Charter School

Two Ameca robots — which Altus School touts as the “world’s most advanced AI-powered humanoid robots” — cost the San Diego charter school network a combined half a million dollars, a shocking price tag that has sparked questions from parents and local community members.

The ChatGPT-integrated robots are scheduled to arrive on campus this fall. Per Voice of San Diego, which reviewed the internal communication, Principal Cathryn Rambo wrote in an email to student families that she was “thrilled to be the first school in the world researching the use of physical AI as a teaching partner”.

Altus Charter Schools specifically serves students who have fallen behind academically, offering them a flexible path to accelerate their coursework and catch up to graduation requirements. The school network, especially its San Diego campus, has earned widespread recognition for helping students achieve strong academic outcomes at impressive rates. At Altus, students generally complete most of their schoolwork independently, but can access one-on-one personalized support at any of the campus’s dedicated resource centers — that is where the new Ameca robots will operate.

Ameca is programmed to switch between four distinct interactive personas for student use. Three of the personas: Sage the Teacher, Ari the College and Career Planner, and Lexi the Translator, align with what most would expect from an education-focused robot, and have drawn little criticism. The fourth persona, called “Remi the Wellness Coach”, is the source of growing community concern.

Critics point out that the academically struggling students Altus serves often come from at-risk backgrounds, experience disproportionately high levels of stress and anxiety, frequently grapple with self-esteem issues, and may face challenges building healthy social connections. These factors leave this student population far more susceptible to developing unhealthy, potentially harmful emotional attachments or dependencies on the AI robot, opponents argue.