Google Turns Off AI Tools by Default for K-12 Students

Google said Tuesday morning that its AI products will now stay off by default for students in schools that use the company's education software.

Google Search will also be off by default, and schools that turn it back on can't remove its AI features. The company had kept its Gemini AI tools active by default for users of Google Classroom until the change.

Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager of education, wrote in a blog post that access "will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on." The move ties the search engine to its AI features because of their growing role in search.

Education and technology advocates quickly called the change a penalty for schools that reject the AI tools. Parent groups and school technology experts faulted Google for offering the products to children amid worries that students would let AI handle their assignments.

Google said it reached the decision after talks with schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers. The company added Guided Learning, an AI feature meant to explain topics step by step instead of giving answers right away, to both Search and Classroom.

Earlier this year Google activated Gemini in Classroom for students of any age unless a district turned it off. The company has also run multiday AI sessions for teachers that included advice on easing resistance from staff who prefer not to use the tools.

Verified Facts

Google announced Tuesday morning that it would switch off AI products by default for students in schools that use its education software. (NBC News)
Schools that forgo Google’s AI services would also be cut off from Google Search. (NBC News)
The move comes after mounting criticism from advocacy groups and senators about the spread of Google’s AI services available in classrooms. (NBC News)
Until Tuesday, Google’s AI products branded under the Gemini moniker were automatically activated for schools using Google Classroom. (NBC News)
Google said Tuesday’s move would also cut off students’ access to Google Search if schools do not enable Gemini, given AI’s growing integration into the company’s search products. (NBC News)
Search will still have AI features built into it, which the company said have been updated to make it better for learning. (NBC News)
Earlier this year, Google turned on Gemini in its Classroom app, allowing children regardless of age to access AI products unless districts disabled it. (NBC News)
This year, Google began offering multiday AI trainings for educators, featuring sessions that focused on how they could mitigate pushback by teachers who don’t want to use AI. (NBC News)
For schools that enable the company’s AI products, they will now detect when a student is trying to use them just to get an answer on an assignment. (NBC News)
Schools that want their K-12 students to have access to Google Search will soon have to turn it on themselves, and the AI features built into Search will come with it. (Bloomberg News)
The decision followed conversations with schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers. (Bloomberg News)
Google is using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI. (X @linamkhan)
Education and technology advocates immediately slammed the decision as a punishment for schools that do not use Google's AI. (NBC News)
Parent advocacy groups and experts on the use of technology in schools denounced Google for providing AI products to children over concerns that students would outsource their work to AI systems on school devices. (NBC News)
A redesigned version of Google Search will walk students through the topic or problem and work through the concepts without going directly to the answer, according to the company. (NBC News)
Search will include AI features. (Bloomberg News)
The search engine's function will no longer be able to be separated from its AI capabilities. (NewsNation)
Google introduced its AI-powered Guided Learning mode into Google Search and Google Classroom. (NewsNation)
Google's Guided Learning aims to teach concepts instead of providing answers immediately. (NewsNation)
Multiple courts have found Google liable for violating antitrust laws, and this latest move shows it remains.
Access to Gemini, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on. (NBC News)
Google’s Search will be disabled for schools that block the use of its AI features. (NewsNation)
Google's attempt to strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire.