Google Will Block K-12 Search in January Unless Districts Opt Into an AI Version
Google's education chief said schools that want AI off can drop Search entirely. Berkeley Unified, which already blocks ChatGPT and Claude, called the change a growing challenge and said it is evaluating alternatives.
By the Bay Area Brief staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 3 min read
College of Marin's Kentfield campus on a sunny day. Photo: Plasticboob / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped, resized and color-graded). Archive photo of the area; not a photo of the events in this story.
Google plans to block K-12 students from its search engine starting in January unless school districts opt into the company's AI-generated version of Search, Berkeleyside reported.
"If a school is not comfortable with that, and simply wants AI off, then they have the choice to not have Search on at all," Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager of education, said in a virtual briefing on Nov. 2.
Berkeley Unified already restricts generative AI, including by blocking ChatGPT and Claude. A district spokesperson, in an unsigned statement sent Monday, called the AI integration into Search "a growing challenge" and said, "BUSD is evaluating alternative strategies and platforms to address this issue." Lila Byock, founder of the parent advocacy group Schools Beyond Screens, described Google's decision as an act of "bullying" and said "educational value — not shareholder value — must determine" the technology schools use, Berkeleyside reported.
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