Google seems to have shoved as many AI features into as many of its products as it can over the last few years in an attempt to justify the tens of billions of dollars it has plowed into the technology. It appears to be making another attempt to bump up its AI user numbers by issuing an ultimatum to schools: enable AI features or students won't be able to use Search.

In one of several blog posts Google published Tuesday about its education efforts, it said it believes educators should have control over the use of AI in schools. "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," Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager for education, wrote. "Access to these products will be entirely off for K-12 student accounts until school administrators explicitly turn them on." Google clarified to Engadget that administrators will be able to enable these products individually, and that it's not an all-or-nothing deal.

The company plans to roll out these updated controls in the coming months as it walks back a change it made this summer. In August, Google enabled certain AI features by default in the Classroom learning platform. That shift prompted a backlash from educators, as The New York Times reported, leading Google to reverse course.

However, Phillips told the publication that "Search and AI are deeply integrated." If a school bans AI tools, students "will not have access to Search, and they'll see a message from their school that indicates it's not available."

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