Google to pull Search from schools that block its AI tools, sparking outrage among parents and teachers

Google has said schools in the United States that block its artificial intelligence (AI) tools will also lose access to Google Search. The company's announcement has sparked anger among parents and teachers across the country.

Google announced last week a range of new AI tools for schools and classrooms, alongside options allowing teachers and administrators to restrict their use. But the company said schools that choose to block Google's AI tools will also lose access to its search engine.

Chris Phillips, Google's vice-president for education, said, "We believe schools should have control over AI in their classrooms." He said that after listening to schools, teachers, leading researchers and policymakers, the company is updating its approach to controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search.

Phillips added that access to these products will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on.

Parents and teachers across the US told the Guardian they are worried AI could weaken students' critical-thinking skills and that big tech companies are gaining too much influence in education.

Jen Atay, a 51-year-old teacher in Hawaii, sharply criticised Google's approach, saying, "When the software is free, you are the product, and it is inappropriate for Google to test or develop AI with minors. This should not be allowed at all."

A 44-year-old father of two boys in Amissville, Virginia, said he worries AI will weaken people's ability to think critically. "I use AI in my work, but it would not be effective if I did not have well over a decade of experience under my belt. Even the best models are often flat-out wrong in their responses," he said.

He added, "These tools are not something that should be introduced to children at such a young age. I'm hopeful that a Democratic Congress will force the adoption of legislation that will protect our schools from corporate malfeasance such as this. This threat from Google is nothing but extortion and it should be treated as such."

Eyla Whitemoon, a mother and educator based in Kernville, California, said companies like Google and Meta created a false dependency by "partnering" with educational institutions. She said the cash-starved public education system happily merged with them, and now these companies are raising the cost of their supply.

A 64-year-old educator based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said that after having to revamp all teaching in response to AI, Generation Z has begun appreciating what they stand to lose by surrendering their cognitive skills to AI. Noting that alternative search engines exist, he said those are what they will now turn to.

An 84-year-old retiree and mother in Maryland said, "Google decided to follow the evil path to riches. When they started, they were great. Today they are simply evil money grubbers." She said schools should tell Google to go pound sand and simply have children use DuckDuckGo or another search engine.

Rachel Dominguez, a 42-year-old parent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, said Google Search has turned into an AI slop-first service. Instead, she argued, students should be taught to use academic databases such as Academic Search Premier, JSTOR and arXiv.

But not everyone believes blocking AI is the answer. Some argued that schools should focus on teaching students how to use the technology responsibly.

A 67-year-old emerging technology teacher in Texas said, "I do not blame Google. AI is not going away. I've been very frustrated this year trying to teach AI literacy with AI blocked. Schools need to teach how to properly use AI, not block it."

A California resident said, "Google Search has existed since the 90s and it's crazy of them to completely remove it instead of just removing Gemini." But they added that they would like schools to permit the use of Gemini and use it as an opportunity to show students that its sources are not always valid and that you cannot trust everything an AI tells you.