Google will disable its Search engine in schools that opt out of its artificial intelligence features, forcing administrators to choose between the two starting next year.
Access to Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be turned off by default for K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) student accounts. School administrators must explicitly enable them, the company said on Tuesday. Students in schools that reject the AI tools will see notices that Search is unavailable.
Chris Phillips, Google's vice president of education, told The New York Times that "Search and AI are deeply integrated." He added that schools disabling the AI features "will not have access to Search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available."
The announcement follows an August decision to turn on the Gemini AI assistant by default inside Google Classroom, which is used by more than 150 million teachers and students globally. That move drew criticism over reports of declining test scores and concerns about impacts on learning.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) called the policy "extortion," while New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, "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 should not be able to "strong-arm schools."
Lina Khan, former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, wrote on social media that "Google is using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI." 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."
Google argues the change will "give schools more choice, not less," adding that administrators can choose to turn each service on or off individually. The company is testing a Guided Learning feature in select US schools this month. The tool is designed to help students work through problems step by step instead of providing direct answers.
New York City and Los Angeles, home to the nation's biggest school districts, have issued temporary bans on generative AI tools in elementary and middle schools. In July, Common Sense Media called Google's AI Search an "unacceptable risk" to students after testing showed the features resolved homework problems and failed to recognize risky behaviors.
