Google says schools can choose whether to enable Search and its AI tools, responding to criticism that the company would remove Search from schools that reject artificial intelligence. The backlash followed a report by The New York Times about Google’s policy for schools and its plans to add AI to its Classroom offering through a product called Guided Learning.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized the company on social media. Mamdani accused Google of using its market power to push AI into public schools, while Sanders described the policy as a threat to schools and called it “extortion.”
In a post on X, Google said Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search are turned off by default, and that schools control whether to enable them. The company said it is updating Search for schools, with AI Mode and AI Overviews intended to provide step-by-step guidance on problems rather than quick answers to schoolwork.
Google did not directly address the claim that schools must accept AI to retain access to Search. Chris Phillips, the company’s vice president for education, told The New York Times that “Search and AI are deeply integrated.” A Google spokesperson referred CNBC to the company’s post when asked for comment.
Former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan also criticized the policy, saying it showed the risks of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service. Google has faced scrutiny over its search and advertising businesses, and senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley opened an inquiry last month into the company’s push to bring AI into classrooms.
Sources: CNBC Markets.