Google will switch off Gemini and Search for K-12 student accounts until school administrators turn them on

Google said on 3 November that it is “updating our approach to controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search”. In a post on its blog, Chris Phillips, Google's vice-president and general manager for education, wrote: “Access to these products will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on.”

The post gives no start date. Google says it will share more specifics with schools in the coming months. It also says it is bringing Guided Learning, a step-by-step tutoring mode, to Search for student accounts, starting with a pilot in select US schools later this month.

Phillips told The New York Times that “Search and AI are deeply integrated”, TechCrunch reported. Students in schools that keep AI switched off “will not have access to search”, he said, and will see a message from their school saying it is not available.

The plan drew criticism, CNBC reported. Senator Bernie Sanders called it “extortion”. New York's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, wrote on X that “Google is trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools.” A Google spokesperson pointed CNBC to a post on X saying that “schools are in control”.

• Confirmed Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators turn them on. Google, The Keyword blog, 3 Nov 2026
• Reported Students in schools that keep AI off will lose Search, Google's Chris Phillips told The New York Times, TechCrunch reported. TechCrunch
• Reported Senator Bernie Sanders called the plan “extortion”, and Google said “schools are in control”, CNBC reported. CNBC