Google will give schools new controls to manage student access to its generative AI products, including Gemini, beginning early next year. The tools will be off by default for K-12 student accounts, and school administrators must opt in to enable them.
Google said that if a district blocks its AI services at the network level, students will also lose access to standard Google Search. The company said AI is increasingly integrated into Search, making it difficult to separate the two.
The policy could pressure schools to enable Google’s AI tools rather than block them entirely.