Google won't let schools turn off AI Overviews, only block search
Two weeks before Wired's report, an IT administrator for an elementary-middle school posted on Google's support forums asking for a way to block students from seeing AI Overviews, the chatbot-generated answers at the top of search results. "This seems counterproductive to what we're trying to teach," the administrator wrote, arguing that students need to navigate results, examine sources and draw their own conclusions instead of being handed an AI synthesis. No one from Google replied, but counterparts from three districts voiced similar frustration and described work-arounds they were using or considering.
On Tuesday Google announced that it is declining to give schools an option to disable AI Overviews. Starting next year, schools will have to block access to search altogether to get rid of the feature. Wired says the decision stunned educators, parents and technology researchers across the US. Dominique Johnson, part of an Oregon community group called Lake Oswego Parents for Responsible Technology, said: "We were flabbergasted." She added that kids already use the summaries to skip real effort, pulling instant math answers and letting AI write their essays, and that the snapshots frequently make mistakes that younger students take as truth.
Google did not respond to Wired's request for comment. In a public response on X, it argued that schools get "more choice, not less" because search, its Gemini chatbot and the Gemini Notebook tool will be off by default starting next year, and administrators can enable one, two or all three. The catch, per Wired, is that Google considers AI Overviews and a companion feature, AI Mode, inseparable from traditional search. They launched in 2023 and 2025 respectively and bring chatbot functionality directly into search results.
The article places the dispute in a wider context. Wikipedia, news sites and education tools have lost human visitors as people rely on overviews, and Google uses the same bots to crawl for search and AI products, so publishers cannot opt out of the latter. Last week Alphabet shares had their worst single-day selloff, erasing half a trillion dollars in market value after weaker-than-expected search ad sales. Wired asks whether a big cause was increased use of AI Overviews and AI Mode, which are not packed with many ads yet, and notes that some experts think the slump will be temporary.
Schools face a hard choice. Los Angeles Unified says it is still reviewing the implications; several other districts Wired contacted did not respond. Some education technology experts say schools should drop Google search or at least teach students to question AI answers. Stephen Aguilar, who coleads the Center for Generative AI and Society at USC, expects under-resourced districts to say they lack the capacity to dig in their heels and avoid Google, and many to speed up existing plans to teach a new digital literacy. Karolle Rabarison of Schools Beyond Screens in Washington, DC, called the move part of a well-established pattern of big tech pushing products into classrooms and said it is not going to work anymore.
Industry veterans disagree on how hard it would be for Google to offer an off switch. Nicole Kerson, a former senior Google Search product manager who runs the AI strategy firm Collected Company, said it is a question of whether Google is committed to maintaining two versions of search long term, and that a forked product is very hard to maintain. Adeel Khan, a former teacher and principal who runs MagicSchool, which provides AI chatbots for students and teachers, called it "infuriating, insulting, and ludicrous" that Google does not do what Microsoft does: Microsoft offers a Chrome extension that turns off AI summaries in Bing.
Without an official switch, schools use technical work-arounds such as modifying search URLs and installing browser extensions that change how Google results look. Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia recently built its own extension. These loopholes could stop working if Google changes how results are delivered. DuckDuckGo sees an opening: spokesperson Allison Goodman said she would not expect a Google-style DuckDuckGo Classroom soon, but ideally there will be special resources for educators wanting to switch.
The row also touches antitrust. After a 2024 federal ruling that Google illegally maintained its search monopoly, the company was ordered to share certain search data and services with rivals and loosen distribution restrictions, but that effort is well behind schedule because legal disputes are slowing the independent committee overseeing the remedies. Several lawmakers, including US senator Bernie Sanders, criticized Google's stance toward schools.
On the evidence, a Stanford review of research as of a year ago found studies raising concern that AI tools erode chances for students to build skills such as critical thinking. In a Google survey, three in four teenagers report using AI weekly, but only about half say they check its outputs for accuracy. A recent Washington University in St. Louis study found only about 42 percent of AI Overviews could be fully verified using the citations they contained. Google says overviews undergo rigorous testing and are continually improving.
Google also said it plans to launch a student feature called Guided Learning in the coming months, meant to coach users to find information rather than hand over an immediate answer. Chris Phillips, Google's vice president for education, wrote in the Tuesday blog post that AI products should support "productive struggle". Some researchers doubt it will be as natural as a human tutor. Aguilar sees it as another bid to hold Google's place in American classrooms, where Chromebooks, Google Classroom, Search and YouTube are commonplace.
Key facts
- Google announced on Tuesday that schools get no option to disable AI Overviews; starting next year they must block search altogether to remove the feature.
- Google says schools get "more choice, not less": search, Gemini and Gemini Notebook will be off by default next year, and administrators can enable one, two or all three.
- Schools rely on work-arounds such as modified search URLs and browser extensions (Fairfax County Public Schools built its own), which could break if Google changes how results are delivered.
- A Washington University in St. Louis study found only about 42 percent of AI Overviews could be fully verified using their citations; in a Google survey, about half of teenagers who use AI weekly say they check its outputs.
- Google plans a student feature called Guided Learning in the coming months; lawmakers including Bernie Sanders criticized its stance toward schools.
Why it matters
AI Overviews put chatbot answers at the top of ordinary search, and Google treats them as inseparable from search. That turns a classroom question, how much AI students should see while learning to research, into an all-or-nothing choice for schools: accept the feature or block search. The complaint from the IT administrator is pedagogical: students should work through results and sources before being handed a synthesis. The story also sits beside Google's search antitrust case, where remedies from a 2024 ruling are behind schedule.
Who it affects
School districts and their IT administrators, who must decide how to handle search next year; students, especially younger ones whom Johnson says take AI snapshots as absolute truth; and parent groups pushing districts to look elsewhere. Under-resourced districts have the least room to leave Google, according to Aguilar. Publishers such as Wikipedia and news sites are affected more broadly, since they have lost human visitors to overviews. Rival search engines like DuckDuckGo see a chance to win school business.
How to use it
There is no official off switch. From next year, administrators can leave search, Gemini and Gemini Notebook off by default or enable any combination, but enabling search brings AI Overviews with it. Current options described by Wired: modifying search URLs, browser extensions that change how Google results appear (Fairfax County Public Schools built its own), or switching to another engine such as DuckDuckGo, whose spokesperson says it hopes to offer resources for educators who switch. Microsoft offers a Chrome extension that turns off AI summaries in Bing. Google points to Guided Learning, due in the coming months, as a student-focused feature.
How solid is it
This is Wired's reporting, with named educators, researchers and former Google staff, plus Google's public response on X and a blog post by Chris Phillips, vice president for education. Google did not respond to Wired's request for comment or to the forum post. The source does not say how many US schools or students are affected, and gives no calendar date for the announcement or the change. The research cited is mixed in provenance: a Stanford review of research as of a year ago, a survey conducted by Google, and a Washington University in St. Louis study.
Risks and caveats
The work-arounds schools use are fragile and could stop working if Google changes how results are delivered. Experts disagree on how hard an off switch would be to build; Kerson's point is the cost of maintaining two versions of search. The Alphabet selloff link is tentative: Wired frames AI Overviews as a possible big cause with a question mark, and notes some experts expect the slump to be temporary. Researchers question whether Guided Learning will work as well as a human tutor, and Google says overviews are rigorously tested and improving. The source does not say whether Google will reverse the decision.
“There’s a kernel of truth in saying we have to prepare students for a world where AI is ubiquitous, but it shouldn’t be through a company making a very self-serving pronouncement because it’s heavily invested in AI.”
— Stephen Aguilar, who coleads the Center for Generative AI and Society at USC