Google urged by Markey to let schools keep Search without AI

On Monday, Senator Edward Markey asked Alphabet to permit K-12 schools to turn off Google’s artificial intelligence features while still being able to access Google Search.

The Massachusetts Democrat is looking for answers by Nov. 30.

Markey sent the letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Nov. 9. Under a planned policy, schools that ban Google’s AI Overviews for students would also lose Search.

Senator wants Pichai’s answers by November 30

Markey asked Google to commit to allowing schools to disable AI Overviews, Gemini and Guided Learning, but retain Search. He also inquired about the technical feasibility of Search results without generative AI features or chatbots.

“Schools deserve the right to block student access to AI chatbots without also forfeiting access to an important educational tool,” Markey wrote in the letter.

Google is using its dominance in education technology to force AI on students by blocking their access to Search, the senator said. Google Classroom has about 150 million students and teachers.

Markey also wants Google’s research, testing, and risk assessments on the safety, mental health, and learning impacts of those products on K-12 students, including children younger than 13. He asked how many schools and districts use Google products that curb student access to generative AI or chatbots outside of Search.

Alphabet says its features are too tightly woven to separate

The policy gives more control to the schools, Google says. The AI features are now so tightly integrated into Search that the company can’t offer Search without them, a spokesperson said.

The change was announced Nov. 3 by Google. Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until turned on by administrators, and each product can be enabled individually.

According to Google’s help pages, AI Overviews is a core feature and cannot be turned off, and students at schools that don’t opt in for Search will get a notice saying it’s not accessible.

“We believe schools should have control over AI in their classrooms and in providing administrators with controls to help them manage their approach,” wrote Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president and general manager of education, in the announcement.

Google will launch a Guided Learning pilot in Search with select US schools later in November. The feature walks students through homework problems, step-by-step.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused Google of “trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools” in a post on social media.

DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg volunteered to help school administrators set his search engine as the classroom default on Nov. 4, Cryptopolitan reported. Google had 91.05% of global search traffic in October, while DuckDuckGo had 0.64%.