Google says there is no way to use Search without artificial intelligence
Google has said there is no way to use Google Search without artificial intelligence, underscoring how tightly AI is now woven into the world’s most popular website. In a school-focused announcement, the company unveiled new classroom AI products and tighter controls, while arguing that schools should decide whether students use those tools. The catch is that blocking Google’s AI features also blocks Search: K-12 student accounts will have Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search switched off until administrators turn them on. Education vice-president Chris Phillips told the New York Times that Search and AI are deeply integrated, and that a school-wide AI ban would leave students without Search, seeing a message from their school that it is unavailable. The Guardian contacted Google but received no reply by publication.
Critics treated the policy as coercion. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who imposed a one-year moratorium on generative AI in city schools through eighth grade, wrote on X that Google was using monopoly power to force AI into public schools. Former US Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan said the company was using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI. Google already supplies widely used free or cheap classroom tools, from Gmail and Docs to Classroom and Chromebooks. Among the new offerings is Guided Learning, an AI study coach meant to walk students through problems rather than give answers, with plans to put it inside Search—for example when a student pastes a physics problem or asks for help with a book report. Lila Byock of Schools Beyond Screens, a parents-and-teachers coalition, called the announcement a hostile ultimatum and said regulators should stop big tech from exploiting schoolchildren for profit.
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