Google Turns Off AI Tools by Default for K-12 Student Accounts

Google announced that its AI tools, including Gemini and Gemini Notebook, will be off by default for K-12 student accounts.

The change affects schools using Google Workspace for Education. Administrators will be able to turn AI tools on for students, but the default setting will keep them disabled.

The announcement has raised concerns among educators because Google Search and its AI features are now integrated. Schools that choose to block AI tools entirely may lose access to Google Search for students as a result.

Google said the default-off setting is intended to give schools and parents more control over how students interact with AI. The company has faced pressure from parents and policymakers to limit AI access for minors, particularly as generative AI tools have become more capable of producing content that may not be appropriate for younger users.

The move follows broader industry discussions about AI and education. Several states have passed or are considering legislation that restricts how AI tools can be used in K-12 settings.

Apple also made news in the education and AI space this week, expanding its developer preview for Siri AI in iOS 27.3. The update allows third-party apps to integrate content and actions through App Intents, enabling Siri to perform multi-step tasks based on personal context and on-screen content.

OpenAI announced that starting in December 2026, ChatGPT and Codex usage will be consolidated under a single shared token allowance for paid plans.

Four major AI companies, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, have agreed to honor a single unified robots.txt signal for AI training preferences, simplifying compliance for publishers who want to opt out of having their content used to train AI models.