Google announced on November 3 that its AI products and Search will be switched off by default for K-12 student accounts, and that schools must opt in to restore them. The catch, set out by Google education vice president Chris Phillips to the New York Times, is that Search and AI are deeply integrated: a school that declines the AI tools, including Gemini, will find its students have no access to Search either, and will see a message saying it is not available.
The political reaction was immediate. Senator Bernie Sanders accused Google on X of extortion, writing that the company is threatening schools that stop students using AI with the loss of Search. Senator Richard Blumenthal said Google seemed more concerned with forcing Gemini into schools than with students succeeding, and former FTC chair Lina Khan condemned the move as anticompetitive.
Google responded the same day that the announcements give schools more choice, not less: Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search will be off by default based on schools asking for more control, and schools can enable them individually. The company is also testing a Guided Learning tool in Search, designed to walk students through a problem rather than hand over an answer, at select United States schools later in November. But Google offers no version of Search without its AI features, AI Overviews and AI Mode included, so enabling Search means accepting AI in it.
DuckDuckGo moved on the opening within a day, publishing documentation on how districts can switch their default search engine and offering help to do it. The new controls take effect in early 2027, which gives districts a decision window, and gives regulators a bundling case study that arrives with named political sponsors already attached.