Google will place Search and three Gemini products behind default-off controls for K-12 student accounts, leaving school administrators to enable them and putting classroom AI access under school control.
The company announced the change Nov. 3 and named Google Search, Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Gemini in Classroom as the covered services. They will be unavailable to students using those accounts until administrators turn them on.
Phillips described the Search consequence separately in an interview with The New York Times. He said students at schools that block AI would not have Search access and would see a message from their school saying it was unavailable.
Google has not announced a rollout date. It said schools will receive further details in the coming months.
The controls give administrators authority over whether students can use the listed products. Students at schools that block AI may also lose Search access through their school accounts, as Phillips described.
New York City’s one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI applies to students in 2-K through eighth grade during the 2026-27 school year. The Mayor’s Office says nearly 600,000 public school students are covered, about two-thirds of enrollment.
Google also said it is developing Guided Learning features for Search to help students work through problems rather than receive direct answers. The company plans to pilot the feature at select U.S. schools later in November. Guided Learning in Google Classroom became available globally Nov. 3.
Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 2021 to 2025, criticized Google’s approach in a post on X. She wrote that it showed “the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service.”
Google said it will give schools rollout details in the coming months. The next scheduled product milestone is the Search Guided Learning pilot at select U.S. schools later in November.
