Google school search can be turned on without a full Gemini opt-in, the company said Tuesday, after criticism that included charges of coercion, “extortion” and monopoly power. Administrators may enable Search alone for K-12 accounts, yet AI Mode and AI Overviews stay in the results. The fight is over who controls a default classroom tool.
Key Takeaways
- K-12 Search, Gemini and Gemini Notebook are off until admins enable them.
- After backlash, schools can enable Search without Gemini products.
- AI Mode and AI Overviews remain inside school Search results.
- Mamdani, Sanders and Khan publicly condemned the school AI policy.
What Google Turned Off by Default
Google said access to Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until administrators explicitly turn them on. Chris Phillips, vice president and general manager of education, put that in a blog post. NBC News reported that Gemini products had been on by default for schools using Google Classroom until Tuesday.
Google says 150 million students and teachers use Google Classroom worldwide, and many students work on school-provided Chromebooks. In August, Google turned Gemini on for many K-12 students. Until then, the chatbot could be enabled only for students 18 or older.
Phillips told The New York Times that schools banning AI “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available,” CBS News reported.
Google School Search Still Carries AI Features
Later Tuesday, Google said on X that schools can turn on one, two or all three of Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search, and that “schools are in control.” NBC News reported that, after significant backlash, administrators may enable Search without the other Gemini products, and that the announcements “give schools more choice, not less.”
The separation stops at the results page. Phillips told the Times that “Search and AI are deeply integrated.” Google wrote, “We are also updating Search for schools to make it better for learning,” and, “Specifically, AI Mode and AI Overviews will offer step-by-step guided learning through problems, so that students don’t get quick answers to schoolwork.”
CNBC reported a Classroom product called Guided Learning, described in a post titled Designing responsible AI for learning. Where schools enable the AI products, Google said it will detect when a student is trying to use them just to get an answer. A redesigned Search will instead walk students through the concepts, NBC News reported.
| Control | K-12 default | Separate switch | AI still included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini | Off | Yes | Yes |
| Gemini Notebook | Off | Yes | Yes |
| Google Search | Off | Yes | AI Mode and AI Overviews |
Politicians and Unions Called It Coercion
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X, “Google is trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools.” Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote that “Google is threatening schools,” and referred to the policy as “extortion,” CNBC reported.
Former FTC Chair Lina Khan wrote that the policy highlights “the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service.” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told NBC News, “It is unfortunate that Google has prioritized its business interests over the education of our children.”
Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, said Google’s attempt to “strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire,” and said the technology is about “developing lifetime brand loyalty,” not learning. He urged schools to help students find “more privacy-protective alternatives for search.”
What the Split Means for Schools and Publishers
Large districts were already restricting the tools. In September, New York City schools said AI would be banned until students reach high school and implemented a one-year delay on generative AI for children in 2-K through eighth grade. The Los Angeles Times reported that Los Angeles has a temporary ban on generative AI tools in elementary and middle schools as well.
- May 2024: Google introduced AI Overviews in Search.
- August: Google switched Gemini on for many K-12 students; before that, only students 18 or older could have it.
- Tuesday: Search and the Gemini tools defaulted to off, then Google said Search can be enabled alone.
- Last month: Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley launched an inquiry over Google’s push of AI into classrooms.
The SCALE Initiative at the Stanford Graduate School of Education has said there are no high-quality causal studies of student AI use. A 2023 Schoolytics report found that nearly two-thirds of assignments use a Google product. Common Sense Media has rated Google’s AI Overviews an “unacceptable risk,” CNBC reported.
For publishers, the durable change is the results page, not the admin switch. If guided learning keeps students inside Search while they work a problem, homework sites and explainers may see fewer classroom clicks. That is an inference from Google’s description, not a figure the company released.
Marketers following how Google Search growth has slowed as AI Mode expands should track education queries apart from general Search. Districts focused on cheating have a parallel issue in how schools can combat AI-generated homework.
