Google says Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be switched off for K–12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly enable them. The change matters because, according to Google’s education chief, a school that blocks the company’s AI will also lose access to its search engine.

The new setting reverses the earlier default for many students: Google turned on its Gemini chatbot for many K–12 students using Classroom in August. The company has not said when the new controls will take effect. It says it will give schools more details in the coming months, before the rollout.

Search is part of the AI decision

Google’s announcement puts Search on the same list of products administrators must enable as its AI tools. Chris Phillips, Google’s vice-president and general manager for education, told The New York Times that Search and AI are deeply integrated. He said a school-wide ban on AI would leave students without Google Search.

That connection is significant because Google is a major provider of technology in US schools. The Associated Press reported that many students use school-provided Chromebooks. Google says 150 million students and teachers worldwide use Google Classroom, the platform at the centre of the August Gemini rollout.

Google says the new controls are intended to let school leaders decide how AI is used in classrooms. But administrators who want to keep AI off cannot, under Phillips’s description, preserve access to Google Search. The company has not yet explained in detail how the controls will work or what the exact rollout date will be.

New study tools, amid school pushback

The controls are part of a broader announcement about Guided Learning, a study feature Google says is designed to lead students through problems rather than give them answers. It became globally available in Google Classroom on November 3, 2026. Teachers can assign activities based on class material and receive real-time insights about where students may need support, Google said.

For Search, Google plans to begin a pilot in selected US schools later in November. When the system recognises a student seeking certain kinds of homework help, it will offer step-by-step prompts, Google said. The company plans to expand the feature to other school districts in the coming months.

The announcement comes amid resistance to generative AI in schools. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had imposed a one-year moratorium on these tools in city schools through eighth grade. He accused Google of using its power in search to push AI into public schools. Former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan also said Google was using its search dominance to pressure schools to adopt AI.

Lila Byock, founder of the parent-and-teacher coalition Schools Beyond Screens, called the policy a hostile ultimatum and said regulators should intervene. Josh Golin, executive director of children’s advocacy group Fairplay, said Google’s effort to push schools toward its AI products could backfire. The dispute now centres on a practical choice for administrators: whether to enable Google’s AI tools when Search access is tied to the same decision.