Mamdani criticizes Google over AI features in schools, Digi Mart USA News: New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized Google’s decision to block its search engine in schools that restrict its AI features.
In a social media statement, Mamdani wrote, “Google is trying to use its monopoly power to force AI into our public schools.” He added, “No corporation should have the power to dictate how we teach our children.” He also said, “Our public schools exist to serve students, not to grow the profit margins of Big Tech.”
Google announced Tuesday that it would turn off AI features in its software for students unless school administrators specifically chose to activate them, a change educators have been requesting. However, the company also said that if schools restrict all of its AI features, they would lose access to Google Search.
In a statement to the New York Times, which first reported the decision, Google vice president for education Chris Phillips said, “Search and AI are deeply integrated,” without providing further explanation.
Google Search has grown increasingly reliant on AI. Before the post-2022 chatbot boom, the company used AI algorithms to improve search results, and its older featured snippets pulled text word-for-word from webpages while linking to the original source.
Since then, Google has added AI Overviews and a full AI mode, which present automatically generated summaries and chat-style answers at the top of results, even though AI tools are known to produce hallucinations.
Parents and educators have expressed concern that these features could weaken students’ critical thinking and independent research skills. Many school districts are also wary of chatbot products such as Google Gemini, which have become associated with cheating on assignments.
Mamdani has made AI in education a key part of his agenda, and in September he announced a one-year moratorium on New York City schools using AI in the classroom, which he described as the most comprehensive policy of its kind in the country.
Google is the dominant search engine, and its threat to cut off search access for schools that restrict AI gives it significant leverage, which Mamdani characterized as monopoly power. A federal judge ruled in 2024 that Google held an illegal monopoly over the search engine market and used its dominance to shut out competitors.
The source article argues that the company may be pursuing a similar strategy with schools to build long-term loyalty among students toward its AI products.
