Google announced Tuesday morning that it would switch off AI products by default for students in schools that use its education software, and that schools forgoing its AI services would also be cut off from Google Search by default. Until Tuesday, AI products branded under the Gemini moniker were automatically activated for schools using Google Classroom. Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president and general manager of education, said in a blog post that access to Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search “will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on,” adding that schools should have control over AI in their classrooms. Later on Tuesday, after significant backlash, Google said its policy would allow schools to enable the Search service alone without turning on additional Gemini products, though schools still could not use Search without certain AI features like AI-generated summaries. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said it was unfortunate Google prioritized business interests over children’s education, and Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, said Google is attempting “to strong-arm schools into using its AI products.” In a statement posted to social media, Google said the announcements “give schools more choice, not less.”