IBL News | New York
Google announced yesterday that it plans to make it easier to restrict its AI tools for K-12 students in early 2027. But it said that schools that block AI entirely will lose student access to its search engine.
AI features are now a standard part of Google’s commercially available search engine. And the tech giant dominates K-12 classrooms.
Its suite of education apps, including Gmail, Docs, and the LMS platform Classroom, is ubiquitous. Chromebooks, low-cost laptops, are the most widely issued student devices in U.S. schools.
Chris Phillips, Vice President for Education at Google, explained, “Search and A.I. are deeply integrated. If a school bans AI, students will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.”
The company said it wanted to respond to educators and parents who had asked for more control over how children interact with artificial intelligence.
Lina Khan, a former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement that Google was using its “search monopoly to coerce schools” into adopting its A.I. She added that multiple courts had found the tech giant liable for violating antitrust laws.
This year, Google has been promoting its Gemini chatbot as a key educational tool, along with a feature within Gemini, Guided Learning, designed to make it harder for students to use AI to cheat by guiding them through a topic step by step without providing answers that could short-circuit learning.
In August, Google made AI features the default option in its Classroom app for K-12 schools, a move that upset school leaders, who felt schools should decide how and when students use Google’s AI. Google will now reverse its August change.
Richard Culatta, CEO of nonprofit ISTE+ASCD, applauded Google’s plan to turn off its AI services for students by default in K-12 schools.