Schools can switch off Gemini but not AI in Google Search, and DuckDuckGo sees an opening

TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez reports that after backlash over how AI is built into Google’s education products, Google said schools can turn Gemini off, but switching off other AI features would also cost them Google Search. Google’s follow-up said Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search will be off by default and that schools can enable each individually, framed as more choice. The catch: modern Google Search comes with AI Overviews and conversational AI Mode, so turning Search back on doesn’t restore the non-AI experience educators remember. We covered the policy itself in Google’s clarification and educators’ reaction.

DuckDuckGo moved into the gap. CEO Gabriel Weinberg pointed schools to documentation for switching the default search engine, and chief public affairs officer Kamyl Bazbaz framed Google’s move as a monopolist forcing AI on schoolchildren.

Google owns the Chromebook and Classroom rails in many schools, so default search in education is a distribution battle. School defaults are a rare opening for alternatives to Google’s lock-in. Whatever one thinks of DuckDuckGo’s rhetoric, it is right about the choice problem. Educators have asked for tools that remove AI from the learning loop entirely, and “Gemini off, Search still AI-shaped” isn’t the clean control they expected.

DuckDuckGo isn’t anti-AI either; it ships Duck.ai and an AI search assistant. The difference is an opt-out that works, including a dedicated no-AI surface at noai.duckduckgo.com. DuckDuckGo has pointed to a 30% rise in app installs earlier this year as users rejected force-fed AI search, which suggests real demand for that control.

Google’s Guided Learning product tries to walk students through problem-solving rather than handing over answers, a useful design instinct. But teaching kids to weigh sources is harder when an AI summary sits above every result. If AI is going into schools, it should arrive as a switch educators can throw, not a bundle they can’t unbundle.

A genuine AI-off Search mode for education customers would deflate DuckDuckGo’s pitch quickly. Without one, districts will treat default search and AI controls as procurement and policy decisions. Google is expanding AI across its products at the same time, from Gemini Live in Gmail and Docs (coverage) to shopping in Search (Universal Cart), which makes a carve-out for schools a meaningful test of how much control it will give customers. More in our Google Gemini coverage and regulation coverage.