Google will switch off Gemini and Search for K-12 student accounts until schools turn them on

Google will turn off its AI tools and its search engine for K-12 student accounts until each school decides to switch them on, the company said Tuesday.  The change covers Gemini, Google's AI chatbot; Gemini Notebook; Gemini in Classroom; and Google Search.

Student accounts are the school-issued Google logins many districts give children for Chromebooks and homework.  After the change, a school administrator must choose to turn each one on.  Google said it made the change after hearing from schools, teachers, researchers and policymakers.  It did not give a date and said it will share details with schools in the coming months.

How Google says it will help

Google's stated goal is to stop AI from becoming a shortcut.  "Are they actually learning, or just finding a shortcut?" Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, wrote in the announcement.  The off switch gives each district the call on whether and when students use the tools.

Google is also expanding Guided Learning, a Gemini mode that walks a student through a problem with questions and step-by-step hints instead of giving the final answer.  Starting Tuesday it works worldwide in Google Classroom, the free site where teachers post assignments, when a teacher assigns it, and teachers see where the class is getting stuck.  A Guided Learning version of Search, which kicks in when a student pastes in something like a physics problem or asks for help with a book report, starts as a pilot in some U.S. schools later this month.

Google points to its own research.  In an eight-week trial with 1,763 middle school students in Sierra Leone, those using Guided Learning gained the equivalent of 1.2 to 1.7 years of typical math progress, Google DeepMind reported in June.  Gemini gave a direct solution in only 2% of its messages.  Students who started out stronger gained the most, the researchers said.

Can students get around it?

Some can.  Google's help pages for school IT staff say its age limits apply when students are signed in to their school accounts.  Google's announcement does not cover students' own phones or home computers, so a student could look something up on a personal device and type the answer into school work.

On school-managed Chromebooks, IT staff can block sign-in by anything but school accounts and turn off guest mode, which otherwise skips school rules, according to Google's Chrome help pages.  Google says there is no separate admin switch for the Gemini phone app; schools must block it through their device-management tools.

How teaching is changing

In the Sierra Leone trial, teachers designed the lessons and many described shifting from "lecturers" to "facilitators" who moved around the room helping pairs of students, Google DeepMind said.  In a Google study of 700 educators in Italy's Don Bosco schools, teachers reported spending 70% less time on paperwork and using it for one-on-one help, Google said in May.

We believe schools should have control over AI in their classrooms.

Source:  Google, "Designing responsible AI for learning," Nov. 3, 2026, and "Measuring the impact of AI on teaching and learning," May 19, 2026 (blog.google); Google DeepMind, Sierra Leone trial results, June 9, 2026; Google Workspace and Chrome Enterprise help pages