Google ties school Search access to its AI in K–12 policy reversal

Google announced on November 3 that Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search will be off by default for K–12 student accounts until school administrators enable each service. Administrators can enable the four services individually, but Google offers no AI-free Search option, so schools that reject AI-powered Search also lose ordinary Search; students at those schools would see an unavailable notice. The changes follow Google’s earlier decision this year to enable Gemini by default in Classroom, which has more than 150 million educator and student users, and come after feedback from educators, researchers, and lawmakers. Google has not yet implemented the changes and says it will share more details in coming months.