Google will tie school Search access to AI settings from 2027

Starting in early 2027, Google plans to keep Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Google Search turned off by default for student accounts. Schools will be able to activate each service separately, but they will not have the option of offering Google Search without its AI features.

Schools that enable Search will choose between two versions. One will include full AI Overviews and AI chat. The other, called “Guided Learning,” is designed to guide students toward answers instead of providing them directly. Google vice president for education Chris Phillips said Search and AI have become too closely integrated to separate.

The policy follows criticism after Google recently enabled AI features by default in Classroom for schools with Gemini access. The company is now reversing that decision. New York City and Los Angeles schools had already reduced student access to AI in September; Los Angeles wanted to retain Google Search without AI Overviews, but Google’s planned rules would not allow that. Education professor Morgan Polikoff described the approach as an example of the technology industry imposing AI on users. Google has a major presence in US schools through Chromebooks, Gmail and Classroom.