Google ties school Search access to AI adoption, drawing 'extortion' charges

Google has told schools they can opt out of its artificial intelligence products — but if they do, their students will also lose access to Google Search. The announcement, made Tuesday in a blog post by Google's vice president and general manager of education, Chris Phillips, immediately drew accusations that the company is leveraging its grip on classroom technology to push AI into schools whether educators want it or not.

Starting with the new policy, Google Search, Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Gemini in Classroom will all be disabled by default for K-12 student accounts. School administrators must explicitly turn each service on. Google clarified after an initial wave of backlash that schools can enable Search without enabling the standalone Gemini apps — but Search itself cannot be activated without its built-in AI features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. There is no option to use a traditional, AI-free version of Google Search.

Search and AI are deeply integrated.— Chris Phillips, VP and General Manager of Education, Google

According to The Verge and CBS News, Phillips told The New York Times that students at schools that choose to disable AI features 'will not have access to Search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available.' Google's position is that the change gives schools more control than they currently have, since administrators can now block AI tools — including those embedded in Search — that were previously on by default.

The backlash was swift and came from multiple directions. Senator Bernie Sanders called the move 'extortion,' according to The Verge. Google was accused by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of 'trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools,' with Mamdani adding that 'no corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children.' In a written statement cited by The Verge, Rohit Chopra, California's Secretary of Business and Consumer Services, argued that Big Tech shouldn't be able to 'strong-arm schools.'

It is unfortunate that Google has prioritized its business interests over the education of our children. Instead of working with teachers and parents to uphold privacy and ensure their tools are safe and useful, it throws the baby out with the bathwater and bans access to the tools altogether.— Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers

This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service. Multiple courts have found Google liable for violating antitrust laws, and this latest move shows it remains unchastened. As the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools, Google is making clear it will punish those who don't fall in line.— Lina Khan, Chair, NYC Economic Development Corporation and former FTC Chair

According to CBS News, Josh Golin, executive director of children's advocacy group Fairplay, warned that Google's attempt to 'strong-arm schools into using its AI products is likely to backfire,' and contended that Google's presence in schools is driven not by educational goals but by a desire for 'developing lifetime brand loyalty' for its products. Golin also suggested, according to NBC News, that schools 'use this opportunity to help students find more privacy-protective alternatives for search.'

Google's dominance in education technology makes the stakes unusually high. Google Classroom is used by more than 150 million teachers and students globally, and the vast majority of Chromebook laptops sold are purchased by school districts. According to a 2023 report by the firm Schoolytics cited by NBC News, nearly two-thirds of school assignments use a Google product. That infrastructure position is precisely what critics say gives the company leverage that no other vendor could exercise.

The new policy is the latest turn in a months-long conflict over AI in classrooms. Earlier this year, Google activated its Gemini chatbot for K-12 students — including children of any age — without requiring districts to opt in. Parent advocacy groups and experts denounced the move, raising concerns that students would outsource schoolwork to AI. Thirteen leading parent advocacy organizations joined forces in an open letter in early October, urging school districts to disable Gemini and YouTube. New York City schools subsequently banned AI for students below high school and imposed a one-year delay on generative AI use for students in grades 2-K through eighth grade, according to CBS News. Lawmakers also pressed Google on the 'potential harms' of its AI products in schools, according to The Verge.

Google is also rolling out a feature it says addresses concerns about students using AI to shortcut their learning. A redesigned version of Search will walk students through problems step by step rather than delivering direct answers, under a feature called Guided Learning, which Google says it will begin testing in select U.S. schools this month. The company says it will also detect when a student is trying to use AI simply to get an answer on an assignment and redirect them through the concepts instead.

Ars Technica notes that the core frustration — the inability to use Google Search without any AI features — is not unique to schools. Google has declined to offer a no-AI toggle for Search at any level, reflecting its view that AI is the future of the product. Ars Technica also notes that Google's loss in the Department of Justice's search antitrust case will require the company to give competitors limited access to its web index, a development that could eventually open a more viable path for schools looking to switch to a different provider.

Long-term benefits of AI in educational settings have yet to be established by research. NBC News reports that the SCALE Initiative at the Stanford Graduate School of Education has found no high-quality causal studies into student use of AI, and that many existing studies neither measured whether AI improved learning nor compared it against other teaching methods.

Why it matters — Google's near-total dominance of classroom technology means its decision to bundle Search with AI features could effectively force millions of students and teachers to use AI tools their schools and parents have explicitly tried to block.

Sources differ on Whether the policy gives schools more or less choice: Google says the change gives schools 'more choice, not less' because administrators can now individually toggle services that were previously on by default. (theverge.com) vs Critics including Randi Weingarten, Josh Golin, and elected officials say the policy punishes schools that reject AI by stripping away Search, effectively coercing AI adoption. (nbcnews.com)

Reported by theverge.com, nbcnews.com, cbsnews.com, arstechnica.com, theatlantic.com