Google said Tuesday it will turn off artificial intelligence in education apps for K-12 student accounts unless school administrators explicitly enable it.
The Alphabet-owned search giant said it wants educational institutions to control student access to various artificial intelligence features after surveying school administrators and teachers. “We believe schools should take control of artificial intelligence in the classroom and provide administrators with controls to help manage their approach,” Google said in a blog post.
But the internet giant told the New York Times that if schools refuse to enable Google’s artificial intelligence tools, such as Classroom and Notebook, for students, institutions will also lose access to Google’s search engine. Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president of education, told the news outlet that artificial intelligence capabilities are now deeply integrated into the tech giant’s search engine.
He told The Times that if a school bans students and educators from using artificial intelligence, it “won’t be able to access search and they’ll see a message from the school saying the technology is unavailable.”
Google did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment.
Google’s new policy immediately drew criticism that it was trying to force schools to use its artificial intelligence applications. In a statement posted on social media, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the tech giant of “trying to use its monopoly power to force artificial intelligence into our public schools.”
“No company should have the right to dictate how we educate our children. Our public schools exist to serve students, not to boost Big Tech’s profit margins,” he added.
In September, New York City schools said they would ban artificial intelligence until students reach high school and delay the use of generative artificial intelligence for children in grades 2-K through 8th by one year.
Nearly 600,000 students, or two-thirds of the system’s total enrollment, will be affected. This includes all software that uses student-directed generative artificial intelligence, including chatbots, according to education officials.
Lina Khan, who served as FTC chairwoman from 2021 to 2025, said in a statement posted on X that Google is seeking to leverage its dominance in online search.
“This highlights the dangers of allowing unregulated monopolies to control essential services,” said Khan, now chairman of the board of directors of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit that promotes economic growth and investment in New York.
“Multiple courts have found that Google violated antitrust laws, and this latest move shows that it remains unpunished,” she added. “As public opposition to the use of artificial intelligence in schools grows, Google has made clear it will punish those who don’t comply.”