Google Tries to Blackmail Schools Into Using Its AI Tools
The tech giant is threatening to turn off its web search for schools that reject artificial intelligence.
Schools that reject Google’s AI services apparently won’t be allowed to use Google at all.
The company announced Tuesday that it will turn off search engine access for K-12 schools that toggle off its AI tools as soon as next year. Google executives claim the decision is based on the technologies’ recent fusion.
“Search and AI are deeply integrated,” Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google, told The New York Times, adding that students at schools that have banned AI “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.”
Many schools across the country have already invested in Google’s technologies, purchasing low-cost Google Chromebooks to assist educational instruction. Beyond that, Google’s search algorithm has led the industry for the last two decades, besting its competitors to the point that its mere name has become synonymous with research.
Lina Khan, the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, argued in a statement on X that Google had ...