Google will cut off Search for K-12 students at schools that choose to block its AI tools, The New York Times has reported. Starting early next year, the company’s AI features will be off by default for student accounts unless administrators turn them on. But Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president for education, told the NYT that “Search and AI are deeply integrated.” Students at schools that ban AI “will not have access to search,” he said, and will instead see a message from their school saying it is unavailable.The report drew a sharp response from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “Google is trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools,” he wrote on X, adding that “no corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children.” Public schools, he said, exist “to serve students, not to grow the profit margins of Big Tech.”
Google says schools can switch Gemini and Search on separately
Google responded on X, saying its announcement gives schools “more choice, not less.” Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search will be off by default, and schools can turn on one, two or all three individually. “We know there’s concern about students using AI to shortcut schoolwork, and schools have told us they want control,” the company wrote.What the post left out is whether Search can be switched on without AI. According to the NYT, districts that allow AI will get two Search options from early 2027. One keeps AI Overviews and AI chats on, much like the consumer version. The other runs on Guided Learning, a Gemini feature that walks students through problems step by step instead of handing them answers. Plain search without AI summaries is not one of the choices.Google said AI Mode and AI Overviews for schools will now work this way, so students “don’t get quick answers to schoolwork.” Guided Learning is already available globally in Google Classroom, and a pilot in Search begins with select US schools later this month. The NYT noted that the consumer version of Guided Learning can still be used to cheat, producing a detailed essay in response to an Advanced Placement history prompt in the newspaper’s own test.
New York and Los Angeles already restrict AI for students
The policy lands in cities that have already drawn a line. In September, Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI from 2-K through eighth grade, covering nearly 600,000 students. Los Angeles Unified also restricted student access, and its officials had hoped students could keep using Google Search with AI Overviews turned off, the NYT reported.Others joined the criticism. Senator Bernie Sanders called the move “extortion.” Former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan said Google was “using its search monopoly to coerce schools,” pointing out that multiple courts have found the company liable for violating antitrust laws. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said Google “has prioritized its business interests over the education of our children.“The scale explains why the fight matters. Roughly 150 million students and teachers use Google Classroom, and Chromebooks are the most widely issued student devices in US schools. Google has also changed course before. In August, it turned on AI features by default in Classroom for schools that let students use Gemini, upsetting school leaders. That decision will now be reversed.
