Google Puts School Search Behind a Switch, but AI Features Remain
Google says schools can turn on Search without Gemini, but no start date is set and the company has not said Search can run without AI summaries.
Google said on Tuesday that Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Search will be off by default for K-12 student accounts until school administrators turn them on.
Chris Phillips, the company’s vice president and general manager of education, set out the change in a blog post, citing feedback from schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers.
He also told The New York Times that schools banning AI would lose Search. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan objected the same day. Google replied that schools stay in control.
Google’s Blog Post Flips a Default but Sets No Start Date
AP News traces the backlash to August, when Google expanded its Gemini in Classroom experience to younger students.
Previously, that student-facing Classroom experience had been limited to users aged 18 and older. Tuesday’s announcement reverses the default, requiring schools to opt in.
Phillips writes that Google will share specifics with schools in the coming months, ahead of the changes rolling out, so by our reading, no school loses Search today.
What ships now is Guided Learning, Google’s step-by-step tutoring mode, which is live in Classroom worldwide. A Search version enters a pilot in select U.S. schools later this month.
The reach explains the reaction. Google says 150 million students and teachers use Classroom, which makes the company by far the dominant education technology provider in U.S. schools.
Mamdani and Khan Accuse Google of Forcing AI on Schools
Mamdani said Google was using monopoly power to push AI into public schools, CNBC said. Khan separately wrote that Google was using search to “coerce schools into adopting AI,” according to AP.
New York City is the clearest test.
In September, its schools banned AI until students reach high school, a rule covering nearly 600,000 students and all student-facing software that uses generative AI.
Companion chatbots are also prohibited across all grades, although selected high school students can take part in supervised AI pilots.
AP also reports that Los Angeles Unified has imposed a moratorium on student use of AI on district-owned devices.
Google answered later in the day on X, saying schools can turn Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search on one at a time. However, it has not clarified whether schools can disable AI features within Search while retaining conventional search access.
Google’s Search Switch Separates Gemini From Search, Not AI From Search
Google’s announcement confirms that AI Mode and AI Overviews will bring Guided Learning features into Search.
However, the company has not confirmed whether schools can disable AI features within Search while retaining conventional search access. This leaves schools that want to prohibit AI with an unresolved choice over student access to Google Search.
The distinction matters because administrators can apply different settings by grade. However, Google has yet to explain whether those controls will accommodate policies that prohibit AI for younger students while allowing it for older grades.
