What happened
Google said on Tuesday that schools running its K-12 software will lose access to Search unless they choose to enable its AI tools, TechCrunch reported. Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, told The New York Times that the company considers Search and AI closely intertwined, so students at schools that decline tools such as Gemini will be shown a notice from their school saying Search is unavailable.
The announcement, made on Election Day, drew quick criticism from left-leaning politicians. Senator Bernie Sanders described the move on X as extortion, and Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote that Google cared more about pushing Gemini into classrooms than helping students. Former FTC chair Lina Khan called it anticompetitive, and New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the company of acting as a monopoly.
Responding on X, Google said it had followed educator feedback by switching AI products off by default and that schools can enable Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search separately. The company also said it is developing a Guided Learning feature for student accounts in Search, intended to lead students through solving problems rather than simply supplying answers.
Context
Educators have worried that AI overviews built into Search could discourage students from working out answers themselves. Khan noted that several courts have already found Google liable for antitrust violations. Google framed the changes as a response to months of feedback from schools seeking more control over AI use and said it will keep working with educators on controls and learning-focused Search.
The briefing
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