Google to switch off AI by default for K-12 student accounts

Google will set its conversational AI, Gemini, and Google Search to be disabled by default on K-12 student accounts, Bloomberg reported, according to the advertising trade outlet PPC Land. But if a school turns Search on, AI Mode, which uses AI to generate answers, and AI Overviews, which shows an AI summary above search results, reportedly come with it. That means schools cannot allow Search while keeping AI off.

For Japanese companies: At companies that use Google's tools internally, turning on an everyday feature such as Search can also bring AI features with it. IT administrators should check in the settings which features bring AI features along when turned on. The issue matters more directly to local governments and education companies that use Google on devices in elementary and junior high schools. However, it is not yet known whether this setup applies in Japan.

What was reported

According to the report, the change covers the Google accounts that K-12 students use at school. Both Gemini and Search will be disabled by default. School administrators decide whether to turn them on.

This article is based on media reports, and no announcement from Google has been confirmed. It has also not been confirmed when the change takes effect, which countries or regions it covers, or how other AI features will be handled. The headline of the source article also mentions an EU adviser weighing Gemini. But who is reviewing what, and through what process, has not been confirmed, and this article does not cover it.

Turn on Search, and AI comes with it

The key point here is not that students start out without AI. It is that when a school turns Search on, AI Mode and AI Overviews come with it and cannot be removed.

Gemini, as a conversational AI, can be switched off on its own. The AI built into Search, by contrast, is now part of Search itself. Both are the same technology from the same company, but they are switched off in different ways. In effect, Google is reported not to have built Search so that it and AI can be switched off separately.

For schools, keeping Search off is not realistic, because it is a tool for research-based learning. So at schools that turn Search on, students will encounter AI answers every day. Even with AI off by default, whether students can actually be kept away from AI depends on the decision to turn Search on.

What the inseparability means

Search is the starting point for looking up anything. At that starting point, AI answers now appear before the list of links. This setup can be read as Google showing, through its settings for children, its view that Search no longer works without AI.

This is not just about schools. At companies too, even when administrators decide to switch off AI features, they may not be able to switch off AI built into everyday tools. Users need to check which features include AI and how far it can be switched off.

What is still unknown

• Whether Google has made its own announcement or published documentation for administrators.
• When the change takes effect and which countries or regions it covers, including whether Japanese schools are included.
• Whether settings vary by age, and whether Google will later add finer controls, such as turning off only AI Overviews.
• Whether the EU review is related to this change in settings.

All of these can be confirmed once Google gives a firsthand explanation. Until then, readers should treat this as a report-based story.