Google's new school AI switch also turns off Search

Google said Tuesday it will disable its AI tools for K-12 students next year unless school administrators deliberately turn them on. The change reaches across Gemini, NotebookLM, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search. According to the company, it comes after talks with schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers.

The snag is Search. AI features are now woven into the engine, so a school that bans AI outright also cuts students off from the web. Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, told The New York Times that search and AI are "deeply integrated" — and that students at those schools "will not have access to search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available."

That leaves schools with an awkward trade. Teachers may not want AI Overviews writing assignments for students, but they still want those students hunting down sources and learning materials on their own. At Google, those two things no longer come apart.

The stakes are high because Google's apps and Chromebooks are close to unavoidable in American classrooms. Any school that wants to keep Search has to take the AI bundled with it — a reminder of just how much sway the company holds over how kids learn.

Phillips said in a blog post that Google 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." He framed the goal simply: giving school leaders "the control and confidence to use AI products in classrooms as they see fit."

Google paired the announcement with the school launch of Guided Learning, a tool first shown off earlier this year that behaves something like an AI tutor. It's built to push users toward deeper understanding instead of just spitting out answers — a direct response to fears that chatbots are short-circuiting how students learn.