Google Links Student Search to AI, Drawing NYC Backlash

By Edwin V. Christopher

Google will switch off Search for students whose schools turn off its artificial intelligence tools, a policy that drew sharp criticism this week from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, members of Congress and antitrust advocates. The company announced the change on Tuesday for schools that use its K-12 software and says it gives administrators more control. Critics say it pressures districts into accepting AI they might otherwise keep out of classrooms. Under the plan, Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search will be off by default on student accounts, and schools can turn each one on separately. The catch is that Search is now tied to Google's AI features. Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, told The New York Times that Search and AI are deeply integrated, so students at schools that opt out of AI entirely will see a message from their school saying Search is unavailable. Mamdani was among the first officials to respond. In a post on X, he accused Google of trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into public schools and said no corporation should have the power to dictate how children are taught. The policy lands on a school system that has kept AI tools away from students until high school, according to CBS News reporting from September. Sen. Bernie Sanders called the move extortion, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Google appears more focused on pushing Gemini into schools than on helping students succeed. Former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan said the episode shows the danger of letting an unregulated monopolist control an essential service, and she noted that courts have already found Google liable for violating antitrust laws. Google pushed back the same day, saying the changes give schools more choice, not less, and that it was answering educators who asked for tighter controls over AI use. The company says schools can enable Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search one at a time. Later reporting on the company's response indicates that schools that want Search back can turn it on, but it comes with AI Overviews attached. One report says the change reaches schools nationwide in early 2027. Google also says it is building a Guided Learning feature for student accounts in Search, designed to walk students through a problem instead of handing over a quick answer. A struggling math student, for example, might be prompted to review how exponents work before getting a result. The dispute leaves districts with a hard choice. Many schools restricted AI over worries that students would use it to shortcut assignments, and Google's classroom tools are widely used. Switching to another search engine is not a simple fix for students who rely on school-issued Chromebooks, TechCrunch noted. Josh Golin, executive director of the advocacy group Fairplay, argued that schools should consider privacy-protective search alternatives rather than treat Google Search as indispensable, and DuckDuckGo has begun pitching itself to schools in the wake of the backlash. Whether regulators or lawmakers act on the complaints is unclear. For now, the decision rests with school districts, including New York City's, as they weigh the policy before it takes effect.