Google will turn off Search for students in K-12 schools that do not want its AI features, according to a company statement reported by The New York Times. Students in those schools will see a notice that Search is not available.
Google said in an education-related update on Tuesday that access to Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search "will be entirely off" for K-12 student accounts unless administrators explicitly turn them on. Administrators cannot turn off Gemini-powered features while keeping Search on.
Chris Phillips, Google's vice president of education, told the Times, "Search and AI are deeply integrated." He said schools that disable the AI features "will not have access to search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available."
The Verge reported that Google did not immediately respond to its request for comment.
The report says the change follows Google's earlier decision to turn on its Gemini assistant by default in Google Classroom, an app used by more than 150 million teachers and students globally. The report also says lawmakers last month pressed Google on the "potential harms" of its AI products in schools.
According to the report, Google is testing its Guided Learning feature, which is meant to help students work through problems, within AI Overviews in Search. The test begins this month in select US schools.