Google to Switch Off Gemini and Search by Default for K-12 Students

Google is changing how its AI tools reach classrooms. Starting early next year, Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be switched off by default for K-12 student accounts, and each will stay dark until a school administrator explicitly turns it on.

The change, announced on Tuesday by Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president and general manager of education, reverses a decision made in August, when the company turned Gemini on by default inside Google Classroom — an app used by more than 150 million teachers and students worldwide. That move drew sustained criticism from educators, child-development researchers and parents, who argued that students were being exposed to AI tools without meaningful consent or oversight.

The Search catch

The most consequential part of the announcement is not the default change but what comes with it. Google has built AI features — including AI Overviews and a new Guided Learning mode — directly into Search for student accounts. There is no setting that disables those features on their own.

As a result, schools that want students to keep using Search must also accept the AI features inside it. Administrators who switch AI off entirely will lose access to Search, and students will see a message from their school saying the service is not available. Phillips told The New York Times that “search and A.I. are deeply integrated.”

Google has pushed back on that framing. The company said the update gives schools “more choice, not less,” and that administrators can enable Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search individually, with settings that differ by grade. Under the new model, a district could block AI for younger students, offer a guided-learning experience to another group, and give older students the full search experience.

Why it matters

The policy places Google at the centre of a debate that extends well beyond one company. Schools are among the largest buyers of educational technology, and Google’s classroom suite is the default in a vast number of districts. Making AI opt-in rather than opt-out is a significant concession to critics — but bundling Search with AI features effectively forces a choice that many administrators may not want to make.

It also illustrates a broader pattern: as AI becomes embedded in general-purpose software, switching it off is no longer a simple toggle. The same integration that makes AI features useful makes them difficult to separate from the products they sit inside.

Key points

• Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search go off by default for K-12 student accounts.
• The change reverses Google’s August 2026 decision to enable Gemini by default in Google Classroom.
• Schools cannot enable Search without also accepting its AI features; opting out of AI means losing Search.
• Settings can vary by grade, and Google says it will share more detail with schools in the coming months.

Google said the changes will begin rolling out early next year.