Google will cut off Search for schools that refuse AI features in Search from early 2027

What Google actually changed

From early 2027, Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Google Search will be off by default for K-12 student accounts, and school administrators will have to switch on each one individually. The change covers kindergarten through the end of secondary school.

Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, told the New York Times that "Search and AI are deeply integrated", so a school that blocks AI leaves its students without search at all: they "will not have access to search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available". NBC News reported that schools can enable Search without the Gemini products, but AI-generated summaries stay inside it. A version of Search without AI is not on offer.

The Decoder reported that Google had recently flipped AI features on by default inside Classroom for schools with Gemini access, a move that drew the backlash it is now reversing.

The backlash

Senator Bernie Sanders called the policy "extortion".

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on social media that Google is "trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools", adding that "no corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children". Former FTC chair Lina Khan said the move showed "the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service". Senator Richard Blumenthal said Google is "more concerned with forcing Gemini into schools than enabling students to succeed". He and Senator Josh Hawley opened an inquiry last month into Google's push of AI into classrooms.

Google answered later in the day with a post on X, saying the policy was meant to give schools "more choice, not less". It said administrators could turn on one, two or all three of the services individually.

Common Sense Media rated Google's AI Overviews an "unacceptable risk" for children and teenagers.

Why Search and AI cannot be split

Google considers AI Overviews and AI Mode inseparable from traditional search. CNBC reported that AI Overviews arrived as a search feature in May 2024, and AI Mode, launched last year, brings chatbot functionality directly into results.

That is the crux of the fight. Schools are not being offered a search box with an AI add-on, because the AI is now the product.

Guided Learning and the opt-in menu

Google announced the change alongside Guided Learning, a mode that walks students through the steps of a problem instead of handing over the answer. It is live worldwide in Classroom now, and a pilot in selected US schools starts in November. Schools that enable Search get one of two versions: full AI Overviews and AI chat, or Guided Learning.

Google says it consulted schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers before making the change.

Who benefits

DuckDuckGo moved quickly. The privacy-focused search engine published instructions for switching a school's default search engine, and its chief executive, Gabriel Weinberg, told schools to "get in touch for help". Its chief public affairs officer, Kamyl Bazbaz, was blunter: "Forcing AI on school children: how a monopolist behaves when they think people are powerless. Prove Google wrong."

The opening is real. Google has said around 50 million Chromebooks are in schools, and Classroom serves more than 150 million users globally. DuckDuckGo reported earlier this year that its app installs were up 30% as users pushed back on Google's AI Search. It also runs a separate site, noai.duckduckgo.com, where AI answers, AI images and AI suggestions are all switched off. For millions of students required to use Chromebooks and Google education tools, using a different search engine isn't a simple fix, TechCrunch reported. DuckDuckGo's pitch is that it, unlike Google, lets users disable its AI features in search and browser settings.

What happens next

Google says it will share specifics with schools in the coming months ahead of the early-2027 rollout. Los Angeles Unified says it is still reviewing the potential implications, WIRED reported. New York City and Los Angeles had already pulled back on student AI in September, and Los Angeles wanted to keep Google Search without AI Overviews. Google won't let it, according to The Decoder.