Google is telling schools that switching AI off can mean switching search off too, according to New Scientist. The dispute is not simply about whether pupils should use chatbots: it is about whether schools can choose a search service without AI Overviews.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
New Scientist reports that some US school districts want to decide whether pupils can access AI. Google has incorporated Gemini into Classroom, but the article says schools seeking to turn AI off have also been told they may lose access to search. Google’s Chris Phillips described search and AI as “deeply integrated”.
There is an important distinction behind the argument. Google search has used machine-learning systems since at least 2015, the article notes, while AI Overviews, which use Gemini, launched in 2024. New Scientist says AI Overviews can be disabled for an individual search by adding a short code to the URL, but schools are not being offered that as a simple product setting. Google’s explanation to the publication pointed to a blog post about AI tutoring rather than addressing that specific choice.
Why it matters
Schools are not asking an abstract question about the future of education. They need to set rules for pupils, and a search tool that bundles in generative answers makes those rules harder to apply. If the only options are AI-enabled search or no search, the product design starts making an education-policy decision for schools.
The distinction matters for families and teachers too. Machine learning used behind the scenes to rank results is not the same thing as a Gemini-generated summary displayed to a pupil. Treating both as one indivisible category leaves little room for a school to decide which uses it accepts.
Our read
Google’s technical explanation deserves to be separated from the product choice. Search may use machine learning in ways that are difficult to remove, but that does not by itself explain why schools cannot be given a clear control for AI Overviews. A URL workaround is not a school-wide setting, and “use search or don’t” is a poor substitute for one.
This is a meaningful product and policy dispute, not proof of wrongdoing. The useful test is whether Google offers schools a practical way to keep search while disabling generative answers, and whether that control works for managed student accounts.
What to watch
- Whether Google adds a distinct AI Overviews control for school accounts.
- Whether schools can choose search and Gemini settings separately in practice.
- Whether educators or regulators press for clearer controls over AI features in classroom tools.
Discussion spark: Should schools be able to disable generative AI in search while keeping search itself, even if the underlying service still uses machine learning?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (5 November 2026, 16:46 UTC)
- Source update (5 November 2026, 16:46 UTC)
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