Google will require schools to accept AI in order to use Search starting in 2027
According to The New York Times, Google will require schools to enable AI features in student-facing accounts starting in early 2027, or they will lose access to Google Search. Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Google Search are off by default, and schools can enable them item by item, but a version of Search without AI is no longer offered. Chris Phillips, Google's vice president of education, said Search and AI have become so tightly integrated that they are hard to separate; previously, AI features being enabled by default in Classroom sparked backlash, and the company adjusted afterward. The two major school districts of New York City and Los Angeles tightened student use of AI in September, and Los Angeles hoped to keep a version of Search without AI overviews but was not allowed to.
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Google is bundling Search with AI into an option schools cannot separate, which lets readers observe how product bargaining works in the education market.
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Starting in early 2027, Google will give schools an ultimatum: accept AI for students or lose access to Google Search entirely. Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Google Search will all be off by default for student accounts. Schools can turn each one on individually. But a version of search without AI? That's no longer on the table. The New York Times broke the story first. Google's vice president for education, Chris Phillips, said search and AI have become too tightly fused to pull apart.
Google recently flipped AI features on by default inside its learning platform Classroom for schools with Gemini access. That move drew backlash, and the company is now reversing course. Schools that choose to enable search will get two flavors: search with full AI overviews and AI chat, or search with "Guided Learning," a mode designed to steer students toward answers rather than hand them over directly.
None of this happens in a vacuum. Google dominates the US school market with Chromebooks, Gmail, and Classroom. Education professor Morgan Polikoff called the move a textbook case of the tech industry shoving AI onto people whether they want it or not. The country's two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles, had already pulled back on AI for students in September. Los Angeles specifically wanted to keep using Google Search without AI overviews. Google won't let them.