Google is completely turning off Search in schools that reject its AI features, the company told The New York Times. The decision was also shared in a broader education-related update from Google on Tuesday, saying that access to Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search “will be entirely off” for K-12 student accounts unless “administrators explicitly turn them on.”
Administrators will not be given the option to toggle Gemini-powered features off without disabling Search, however. Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president of education, told the NYT, “Search and AI are deeply integrated,” adding that schools that disable Google’s AI features “will not have access to Search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.” Google didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
The announcement comes just months after Google turned its Gemini AI assistant on by default inside the Google Classroom app, which is used by more than 150 million teachers and students globally. The move added to skepticism surrounding Google’s introduction of AI in schools amid reports of declining test scores and other impacts on students’ learning abilities. Last month, lawmakers pressed Google on the “potential harms” of putting its AI products in schools. Although Google is no longer turning on AI features in schools by default, this choice comes at a cost.
Several lawmakers and local leaders have responded to Google’s move to block Search, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) calling it “extortion” and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying, “no corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children.” Rohit Chopra, California’s Secretary of Business & Consumer Services, wrote that Big Tech shouldn’t be able to “strong-arm schools.”
Google argues that this change will “give schools more choice, not less,” adding that schools can choose to turn off each service on or off individually.
The company is also attempting to address concerns about students using its AI features to find “shortcuts” instead of solving problems themselves. Google is embedding its Guided Learning feature, which is supposed to help students work through problems, into its AI Overviews in Search. Google will begin testing this feature in select US schools this month.
Update, November 3rd: Added responses from lawmakers and Google.
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