Google is rolling out new controls that allow schools to limit students’ access to the company’s AI tools. However, schools that choose to opt out of AI altogether may also lose access to Google Search. The move comes amid growing efforts to limit AI use and screen time among students.
Google said Tuesday that its products that use AI, including its Gemini assistant and Google Search, will be turned off by default for K-12 student accounts unless school administrators “explicitly turn them on.” The move reverses an earlier policy announced by Google in August to enable Gemini by default in its Google Classroom app. However, schools seeking to turn off AI entirely may also lose access to Google Search.
Google has made AI central to Search in recent months, adding AI Overviews that summarize answers at the top of many results pages and expanding the search bar to accommodate longer queries.
Google has not specified in its blog post how the new controls will work or what students might see if they try to access Google Search at a school that has banned AI. Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president and general manager of education, wrote that the company will “share more specifics with schools in the coming months ahead of the changes rolling out so they have time to prepare and enable a smooth transition.”
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In response to questions from CNN about how the new controls would work, Google said the policy change would give schools “more choice, not less.” The company added that schools would be able to toggle Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search on or off individually. However, it remains unclear whether schools will be able to use Search without its AI features. Google said AI Mode and AI Overviews would offer step-by-step guidance through problems, helping students learn rather than simply providing quick answers to schoolwork.
The announcement was part of a broader set of updates to Google’s AI tools for education, based on the idea that the technology should help students work through problems rather than simply provide answers. Google said that under the new approach, when its systems detect that a student is using Search for homework help, for example, they will be prompted to work through the problem or topic step by step rather than receive a single answer.
The move comes amid growing scrutiny of AI’s impact on young students. In September, a report by K-12 Dive revealed that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) had restricted students from accessing generative AI platforms for the 2026-27 school year. The move came shortly after New York City announced a one-year ban on AI use among elementary and middle school students.
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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who announced the New York City public school system’s AI ban this year, responded to Google’s policy change by accusing the company of trying to “force” AI into schools.
“No corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children,” he said in a post on X on Tuesday.
Lina Khan, who served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to 2025, said in a statement posted on X that Google was seeking to exploit its dominance in internet search.
Meanwhile, 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.”
Golin said Google’s technology in schools was not about learning but about “developing lifetime brand loyalty” for its products.