THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on, Google says.
  • Google's education chief told The New York Times that schools banning AI for students will not have access to Search, because the two are now deeply integrated.
  • Former FTC chair Lina Khan and the advocacy group Fairplay accused Google of using its search dominance to push schools into adopting its AI.

Google announced on November 3 that its AI products for schools will no longer be switched on by default for younger students. The catch, first reported by The New York Times, is that schools choosing to block AI altogether will also cut their students off from Google Search.

What Google is changing

In a blog post, Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager for education, said the company is reworking the controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search. For K-12 student accounts, all of them will stay off until a school administrator explicitly enables them. Google told Engadget that administrators can activate each product separately. The company says it will give schools more details in the coming months before the changes roll out; Digital Trends reports the new options are expected in early 2027.

The move partly reverses a decision from August, when Google turned on Gemini features in Classroom for many K-12 students and faced pushback from educators. Google also said Guided Learning, a step-by-step study mode, is now available worldwide in Classroom, and that Search will start walking students through homework problems instead of handing them answers, with a pilot in selected US schools this month.

Why Search is tied to AI

According to CBS News, Phillips told The New York Times that AI is now built so deeply into Search that a school banning student AI use will not have access to Search; students would instead see a message from their school saying it is unavailable. Google says it designed the changes after feedback from schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers.

Criticism and context

The condition drew sharp reactions. Former US Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan said Google was using its search monopoly to pressure schools, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the company of using monopoly power to force AI into public schools, CBS News reported. Josh Golin of the children's advocacy group Fairplay told the AP that the attempt to "strong-arm schools" was likely to backfire.

The timing matters: New York City and Los Angeles have both paused generative AI for younger students while they write policies. Google says 150 million students and teachers use Classroom worldwide, so districts that prefer to keep AI off now face a harder choice between Google's search engine and alternative tools. It remains unclear whether the Search restriction will apply identically outside the United States.