The Pulse
NYC Council leaders press Google over AI in school search
Two New York City Council leaders asked Google whether schools can keep Search without its generative AI features. The request follows a city moratorium on student-facing generative AI through eighth grade.
New York City Council leaders have asked Google whether schools can keep access to its search engine without enabling generative AI features. In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Shekar Krishnan challenged a planned change to student accounts and requested a written response by Nov. 19, the council said Friday.
The letter, dated Nov. 12, follows a city restriction on student-facing generative AI. In September, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium for public school students from 2-K through eighth grade.
Search and school controls
Google said on Nov. 3 that access to Search, Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Gemini in Classroom will be off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly enable the products. The change is scheduled for early next year, according to amNewYork.
Schools can activate services individually, the outlet reported. But Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, told The New York Times that Search and AI are deeply integrated, meaning schools that prohibit AI entirely would also lose access to Search through school-managed student accounts, according to amNewYork.
The council leaders disputed Google's contention that its approach would give educators more choice. In a joint statement, they argued that schools would have to accept AI products to retain the search tool and said decisions about children's education should remain with educators rather than company leaders.
Questions for Google
Their letter asks whether city students can use Google Search without AI Mode, AI Overviews or other student-facing generative AI tools the company plans to develop or introduce. If not, the lawmakers want to know why Google cannot offer such a version, pointing to YouTube Kids as a product with features and content controls different from those on YouTube.
Menin and Krishnan also asked what safeguards would let schools make their own decisions about AI adoption, without students being steered into Google's AI ecosystem against the preferences of educators, parents or districts. Krishnan chairs the council's Committee on Oversight and Investigations.
The letter asks how Google measures and reduces the risk of AI-generated misinformation in education and what steps it takes to provide accurate, age-appropriate information. The lawmakers said Gemini had been reported to give inaccurate or misleading responses, including answers about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
They also asked whether Gemini or other Google AI products in classrooms collect student data, where any data is stored, what it is used for and whether Google earns revenue from selling or using it.
Learning features
Alongside the school-control changes, Google is adding Guided Learning capabilities to Search and Google Classroom. The company says the feature coaches students through problems with open-ended questions and step-by-step explanations instead of immediately giving final answers.
Guided Learning became available globally in Google Classroom on Nov. 3, including for activities assigned by teachers. Google plans a Search pilot in select U.S. schools later in November before expanding to other districts in the coming months.
Google did not respond to a request for comment by amNewYork's press time, the outlet reported.