Google says it will switch off its artificial intelligence tools for schoolchildren by default, after criticism that it was pushing AI features to students while schools were still debating how the technology should be used in classrooms.
Under changes announced in a blog post on Tuesday, Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Search will be turned off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators switch them on. Google said the new controls would be rolled out worldwide, starting in the United States, but had not set a date.
The change also means schools will not be able to give students Google Search without its AI features. Google’s vice-president for education, Chris Phillips, said search and AI were “deeply integrated”, so students at schools that ban AI would not have access to search and would see a message saying it was unavailable.
Google dominates technology in American schools, where its Gmail, Docs and Classroom apps are widely used and its low-cost Chromebooks are the devices most often issued to students. More than 150 million students worldwide use Google Classroom, according to a letter two US senators sent to the company last month asking why AI features had been made the default on school devices.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused Google of “trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools”, while the Los Angeles Unified School District said it was reviewing the announcement. New York and Los Angeles both announced plans in September to restrict access to AI tools on school devices.