Google told schools that ban AI they'd lose its search engine, then partly backed off. CPS says it may switch search providers
CPS has blocked student chatbots and says it will try to suppress Google's AI overviews. About half of the incoming school board signed a pledge for a three-year classroom AI moratorium.
Chicago Public Schools says it is "actively exploring all options to independently suppress" the AI-generated overviews in Google search, and if it can't, it will "look to other search solutions," a spokesperson told Block Club Chicago. About 30 people, including parents, educators and school board members, protested outside Google's West Loop office on Wednesday, Block Club reported.
Why it matters: Chicago's first fully elected school board takes office Jan. 15, and about half its incoming members, including President-elect Jessica Biggs, signed a pledge to limit AI in classrooms. How CPS handles Google's tools is one of the first technology policies they inherit.
What Google did
Early this month Google said it would cut off search for K-12 students at schools that turn its AI off, because the AI is built into search. A day later it partly reversed: Gemini and search are now off by default and schools can turn each on separately, a Google spokesperson said, GovTech reported. But AI Mode and AI Overviews stay inside search and can't be turned off, Fortune reported, so a school that bans AI still can't offer search without it.
Where CPS stands
From Block Club's reporting:
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- CPS recently blocked student access to generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini.
- It has approved Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini Notebook under contracts that bar the companies from training AI models on student data.
- It backed off a planned rollout of Gemini in high schools for 2026-27 after pushback, which Axios reported in August.
The pledge
Illinois Families for Public Schools, which led Wednesday's protest, asks for a three-year moratorium on generative AI in CPS classrooms, a chief privacy officer, screen-time limits and a ban on collecting biometric data. About half of the incoming board signed it, Block Club reported. "That really shouldn't be our gateway to human knowledge," the group's executive director said of Google's AI.
Board member Michilla "Kyla" Blaise (5b) told Block Club she believes AI is widening learning gaps on the West Side. Block Club described her as reelected; her race is unofficial until results are certified Nov. 24 (our story).
What our records add
The City's role is small. The school board, not the City Council, sets CPS technology policy and approves its contracts. The Council's hold on CPS is mostly financial: CPS is counting on $285 million from the City next year through TIF surplus (our story).
The state. The Illinois State Board of Education issued non-binding guidance on AI in schools earlier this year, Block Club reported. Elsewhere, New York City has banned student-facing AI, including chatbots, from pre-K through eighth grade.
What's next
The new board's first meetings follow its Jan. 15 start. Until then, the current board and CPS administration decide how to handle Google's settings. We'll follow whether CPS changes search providers.