Google will let schools disable AI tools, but not Search

Google announced on Tuesday that K-12 students will lose access to its AI tools by default starting next year, unless school administrators actively enable them. The company says the shift follows discussions with schools, teachers, researchers, and policymakers, and will touch Gemini, NotebookLM, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search itself.

The catch is that Google Search and its AI features are no longer separable on the back end. Chris Phillips, the company’s vice president for education, told The New York Times that “Search and AI are deeply integrated,” meaning a school that restricts AI altogether will also lose student access to Search, with a message explaining the unavailability shown instead. That leaves administrators who want students to keep researching and finding source material through Search, but without AI Overviews, no way to separate the two.

Given how widely Google’s classroom tools and Chromebooks are already used in schools, the all-or-nothing setup underscores how much leverage the company holds over the sector: any school wanting to keep Search has to accept Google’s AI features along with it. Phillips wrote in a blog post that Google would “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,” adding that the goal is to give school leaders “the control and confidence to use AI products in classrooms as they see fit.”

The announcement came alongside Google’s rollout of Guided Learning in schools, a tool unveiled earlier this year that is designed to help students build understanding rather than simply hand them answers, amid broader concern that AI chatbots can undercut how students learn.

Why it matters

The move shows how deeply AI has been woven into Google’s core education products, leaving schools with far less room to adopt AI selectively than a simple on/off toggle would suggest.