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The story so far
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Google announced a policy shift that turns off Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search on K-12 student accounts until school administrators manually enable them. Chris Phillips, vice president and general manager of education at Google, framed the move as giving schools control over classroom AI tools while promoting Guided Learning features. However, school administrators cannot separate standard search from AI; turning off the artificial intelligence tools also shuts down Google Search entirely for students. [1]
The bundled approach has drawn sharp criticism from educators, privacy advocates, and public officials. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani argued that the company is leveraging monopoly power to push artificial intelligence into classrooms, while former FTC chair Lina Khan accused Google of coercing schools into adopting AI tools. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten warned that the tech giant is prioritizing business interests over students, and advocacy group Fairplay urged schools to embrace privacy-focused search alternatives instead of complying. [1][2]
Mamdani and others have called out Google's decision to disable search functionality for schools who opt out of its AI tools.
via PC Gamer
Ahead of the midterms, WIRED talked to New York City’s mayor about data centers, AI in schools, and the future of the Democratic party.
via WIRED