Google will block search access for schools that ban AI use

Google said on Tuesday that it will turn off artificial intelligence in its educational apps for K-12 student accounts unless school administrators expressly enable it.

The Alphabet-owned search giant said that after surveying school administrators and teachers, it wants educational institutions to control students' access to various AI capabilities. 

Access to Google's AI features — Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Gemini in Classroom — as well as Google search will be automatically turned off for K-12 student accounts until "school administrators explicitly turn them on," Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager of education, said in a blog post.

Schools that ban AI "will not have access to search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available," Phillips told The New York Times.

While Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search will be turned off by default, schools can choose to turn on one, two or all three services, Google explained in a post on X Tuesday.

"We believe schools should have control over AI in their classrooms and in providing administrators with controls to help them manage their approach," Phillips wrote in the post.  

New policy prompts outcry

Google's new policy immediately prompted criticism that it is seeking to pressure schools to use its AI apps. In a statement posted on social media, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the tech giant of "trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools."

"No corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children. Our public schools exist to serve students, not to grow the profit margins of Big Tech," he added.

A Google spokesperson declined to respond to Mamdani's remarks. 

Roughly 150 million students and teachers use Google Classroom, and many students use school-provided Chromebooks, according to Google. Google drew backlash in August when it activated its Gemini chatbot for many K-12 students. Until August, Google had only allowed Gemini to be turned on for students 18 or older.

In September, New York City schools said that AI would be banned until students reach high school and implemented a one-year delay on the use of generative AI for children in 2-K through eighth grade. 

Lina Khan, who served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to 2025, said in a statement posted on X that Google is seeking to exploit its dominance in internet search. 

"This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service," said Khan, who now chairs the board of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit group that promotes economic growth and investment in New York. 

"Multiple courts have found Google liable for violating antitrust laws, and this latest move shows it remains unchastened," she added. "As the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools, Google is making clear it will punish those who don't fall in line."

Josh Golin, executive director of children's advocacy group Fairplay, said Google's attempt to "strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire." He said Google's technology in schools is not about learning but about "developing lifetime brand loyalty" for its products.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, accused Google of putting its business interests ahead of education. "Instead of working with teachers and parents to uphold privacy and ensure their tools are safe and useful, it throws the baby out with the bathwater and bans access to the tools altogether," she said in a statement.