Google will switch off artificial intelligence features in its educational apps for K-12 student accounts unless school administrators specifically choose to enable them, while schools that reject the tools will also lose access to Google Search.
The technology company said it wanted schools to decide how AI was used in classrooms after consulting administrators and teachers. Its education vice-president, Chris Phillips, said AI capabilities were now deeply integrated into the search engine.
Schools that prohibit AI use by pupils and teachers will instead see a message saying search is unavailable, according to Google’s position. The company said its approach was intended to give educational institutions greater control over access to AI features in products including Classroom and Notebook.
The policy has prompted criticism that Google is using its dominance in search to pressure schools into adopting its AI services.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the company 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 said.
New York City schools announced in September that generative AI would be delayed for pupils from 2-K through eighth grade, with a ban lasting until students reach high school. The decision affects nearly 600,000 pupils, or about two-thirds of the school system’s total enrolment, and covers student-facing software including companion chatbots.
Lina Khan, a former chair of the Federal Trade Commission and now chair of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, said Google was exploiting its dominance in internet search.
“This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service,” she said. “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.”
