Saying that it believes "schools should have control over AI in their classrooms," Google announced today that it will turn off access to its AI tools for K-12 student accounts. But there's a catch: Along with those AI tools, it will also disable Google search functionality.

In a blog post entitled "Designing responsible AI for learning," Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager of education, extolled the virtues of AI tools in "productive struggle," which he described as "enabling students to be actively challenged without getting so overwhelmed that they give up."

"That's the philosophy behind Guided Learning," Philips wrote. "In Gemini, Guided Learning acts as an interactive study tool that coaches students through the process of problem solving through open-ended questions and step-by-step breakdowns. Our research shows that Guided Learning leads to measurable learning gains for students, and we're now bringing Guided Learning to more products." Those products include Google Search and Google Classroom.

"After listening to schools, teachers, leading researchers, and policymakers, we are now updating our approach to controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search," Phillips continued. "Access to these products will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on."

" In other words, there is no search functionality on these accounts without AI intrusion.

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