Fierce backlash erupts after Google tried to force its AI into school classrooms
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Communities have slammed Google’s plan to block Search access to schools that opt out of its artificial intelligence tools.
Google announced the change earlier this month amid a fierce battle over the prevalence of technology in schools across the United States. A company statement said that A.I. and Search tools will be switched off on K-12 student accounts by default in 2027, with administrators needing to manually opt in.
While standalone A.I. tools such as Gemini can be toggled on or off, there is no available version of Google Search without A.I. features. That means schools must block Search tools entirely if they want their students not to have access to any A.I. features.
“Parents are angry,” California parent Jodi Carreon told NPR. “They’re very angry.”
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, frustration over the change – announced on November 3 – manifested in the form of a protest outside Google’s office.
Matt Bach, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, told NBC10 Boston that educators don’t want A.I. at all.
“Many parents and education workers want to be free from A.I. in the classroom, and Google is using its monopoly status to say, ‘If you don’t use our A.I., you don’t get to use our search engine,’” he said.
Speaking to the same outlet, Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, added: “We shouldn’t have to guess and wonder, ‘Well, I don’t know, if my student is in school and using these technologies, where is the data going?’”
Prominent politicians have also joined the chorus of outrage at the change, with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani uploading a fiery statement on X earlier in November.
“Google is trying to use its monopoly power to force A.I. into our public schools,” the mayor wrote. “No corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children.”
Mamdani added, “Our public schools exist to serve students, not to grow the profit margins of Big Tech.”
Democratic Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts confirmed in a statement that he wrote to Google CEO Sundar Pichai demanding that the company reverse its policy.
“Just this month, a girl and her family sued Google after Gemini allegedly ‘helped coach her through a plan to commit suicide,’” he claimed. “The girl accessed Gemini through Google Search on a school-issued Chromebook, even though the school had blocked access to Gemini’s standalone app and website.”
Markey continued, “At a time when schools, parents, and policymakers are working hard to implement safeguards on A.I. chatbots for our children, Google is recklessly forcing A.I. on schools and treating kids like collateral damage.”
Markey’s statement referenced a lawsuit, which alleges that 13-year-old Emma from North Carolina was diagnosed with a “battery of severe psychological disorders” by the A.I. chatbot. The tool also taught her to hide her “distress and self-harm” from her family.
The lawsuit, which was reviewed by The New York Times, states that Emma now attends therapy every week.
In Google’s blog post unveiling the change, Vice President and General Manager of Education Chris Phillips said that the company believes that schools “should have control over A.I.” in their classrooms.
“Our goal is simple: provide school leaders the control and confidence to use A.I. products in classrooms as they see fit,” the statement reads.
Explaining his own thoughts on Google’s announced change, Superintendent Hank Thiele of Illinois told NPR that the tech company had previously been a good partner to the district.
“It may have caused a lot of damage in the trust that Google has built in education,” he said.
The Independent has contacted Google for comment.
