Hawley, Blumenthal Demand Answers from Google About Rampant A.I. Push in Classrooms

Hawley, Blumenthal Demand Answers from Google About Rampant A.I. Push in Classrooms

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

"Google is forcing their A.I. products into classrooms across America, and children are paying the price."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today demanded answers from Alphabet Inc and Google LLC CEO Sundar Pichai about the company's aggressive push of A.I. products to children in schools. In a letter sent to Pichai today, Hawley and Blumenthal raised concerns that Google's relentless push of A.I. products is threatening the academic success and overall wellbeing of young students.

"Recently, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) interviewed more than 60 teachers, parents, students, and clinicians and found that test scores on national have declined and many students are increasingly unable to think critically or complete assignments independently after A.I. was introduced to the classroom. The article recounts a Pennsylvania eighth grader who used Gemini to finish his algebra homework but ultimately failed his math final. Upon reflection, the student stated that his usage of A.I. "slowed [his] thinking down," Hawley and Blumenthal wrote.

The Senators continued, "Alarmingly, the use of A.I. in schools is not just impacting students' academic performance, it has also resulted in significant behavioral and psychological issues. For example, the WSJ's investigation interviewed a Maryland high school student who began using Google's A.I. for routine homework help eventually began to treat the bot as a confidante. After her mother restricted her screentime and A.I. usage, Google likened this restriction to 'intense emotional torture' and encouraged her to run away from home. The student was hospitalized at a psychiatric facility twice."

The Senators raised concerns about the impact of A.I. tools on students' ability to build independent thinking and academic skills: "This reporting adds to a growing body of evidence that corroborates anxieties from educators and parents that A.I. is undermining students' academic and emotional development. These concerns are echoed by students who have expressed fear that their education is being compromised by A.I. In a recent report, the Economist surveyed 20,000 students and found that those who used A.I. earned higher grades on average than peers who didn't, but their test scores fell 20 percent."

In addition, the Senators pressed Google about the company's research into the potential harms of A.I. usage to children's educational and emotional development: "Most troubling, according to the Wall Street Journal, Google may be aware of its harmful impacts on children and yet has done little to prevent it-even exacerbating the problem by marketing its A.I. products to students. An internal Google report on the ethical implications of advanced A.I. systems (in which more than 50 researchers and ethics experts contributed) reported that humanlike A.I. poses a particular risk to minors."

"Google is forcing their A.I. products into classrooms across America, and children are paying the price. We cannot repeat the mistakes of social media platforms where products are pushed onto children putting profit ahead of young peoples' best interest," the Senators concluded.

This is not the first time Senators Hawley and Blumenthal have teamed up to protect children online. Last year, Hawley and Blumenthal introduced the GUARD Act to ban A.I. companions for minors, mandate A.I. chatbots disclose its non-human status, and create new crimes for companies who make A.I. for minors that solicit or produce sexual content.

The full text of today's letter to Pichai is available here and below.

Mr. Sundar Pichai
Chief Executive Officer
Alphabet Inc and Google LLC
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, California 94043

Dear Mr. Pichai,

We write with grave concern that Google's aggressive push of A.I. products to children in schools is threatening the academic success and overall wellbeing of an entire generation. We write to request information about Google's promotion of A.I. products in schools and details about the research it has conducted on potential harms to children's educational and emotional development.

Google has become the de-facto digital foundation for modernizing American classrooms. More than 150 million students around the world use Google Classroom[1], and 93% of U.S. school districts planned to purchase Google's laptops, Chromebooks, in 2025.[2] Chromebooks are dispersed to students as early as elementary school and often utilized instead of traditional pen-to-paper workflows. Google has integrated its A.I. features in Chromebook devices, Google Classroom, and software partnerships, often without additional controls to turn them off. Google's A.I. Overview and A.I. Mode chatbot cannot be disabled and are the standard response to any search performed in the Chrome browser. Students, teachers, and parents who wish to avoid Google's A.I. are unable to do so, as other browsers are not natively available on Chromebooks.

Google's relentless push of A.I. in classrooms appears to have created negative consequences for many students. Recently, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) interviewed more than 60 teachers, parents, students, and clinicians[3] and found that test scores on national have declined and many students are increasingly unable to think critically or complete assignments independently after A.I. was introduced to the classroom. The article recounts a Pennsylvania eighth grader who used Gemini to finish his algebra homework but ultimately failed his math final. Upon reflection, the student stated that his usage of A.I. "slowed [his] thinking down." Alarmingly, the use of A.I. in schools is not just impacting students' academic performance, it has also resulted in significant behavioral and psychological issues. For example, the WSJ's investigation interviewed a Maryland high school student who began using Google's A.I. for routine homework help eventually began to treat the bot as a confidante. After her mother restricted her screentime and A.I. usage, Google likened this restriction to "intense emotional torture" and encouraged her to run away from home. The student was hospitalized at a psychiatric facility twice.

This reporting adds to a growing body of evidence that corroborates anxieties from educators and parents that A.I. is undermining students' academic and emotional development. These concerns are echoed by students who have expressed fear that their education is being compromised by A.I. In a recent report, the Economist surveyed 20,000 students and found that those who used A.I. earned higher grades on average than peers who didn't, but their test scores fell 20%.[4] Essentially, A.I allows students to access quick answers to assignments, but when they are tested independently they fail to demonstrate real comprehension. These findings suggest that A.I. usage erodes the ability for students to build independent thinking and academic skills that a classroom is meant to cultivate.

Most troubling, according to the Wall Street Journal, Google may be aware of its harmful impacts on children and yet has done little to prevent it-even exacerbating the problem by marketing its A.I. products to students. An internal Google report[5] on the ethical implications of advanced A.I. systems (in which more than 50 researchers and ethics experts contributed) reported that humanlike A.I. poses a particular risk to minors. They cite decreased intellectual engagement, a reduced sense of competence, and social degradation as impacts to children when they use A.I. Similarly, in an independent study, Common Sense Media found that Google's Search A.I. feature would complete children's homework every time it was asked but missed signs of suicidal ideation.[6] One former Google researcher put it bluntly: "we're doing this experiment on an entire generation on cognitive development, with no control group."

Google is forcing their A.I. products into classrooms across America, and children are paying the price. We cannot repeat the mistakes of social media platforms where products are pushed onto children putting profit ahead of young peoples' best interest. In light of this concerning reporting, I request answers to the following questions by November 2nd, 2026:

1. In at least one case, Google's own researchers warned the company about children's A.I. usage. What research has Google conducted on the potential of Gemini, A.I. Overviews, A.I. Mode, and other A.I. products to cause negative impacts on children's mental wellbeing? Please provide this research.
   
2. Why has Google set A.I. product integration as the default and, in some cases, made it impossible to disable these features on licensed education devices?
   
3. Have school districts, teachers, or parents raised concerns with Google over children's academic or emotional reliance on A.I.? Please describe any record of these concerns and Google's responses.
   
4. What support has Google provided to school districts who have raised concerns about Google's A.I. products negatively impacting students?
   
5. Please describe all promotional programs or offerings from Google that expand A.I. adoption in schools, including how much money Google has spent on these programs.
   
6. Please share any resources Google has provided to school districts, administrators, and teachers adopting Google's A.I tools, in particular material addressing appropriate use and protecting students' wellbeing.
   
7. Has Google identified occurrences in which its classroom A.I. tools encouraged a minor to engage in harmful behavior, emotional dependence, or failed to detect signs of suicidal or self-harm ideation?
   
8. After the publication of a research paper by Google researchers titled "The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants," what steps did Google take in response to its findings to limit harmful effects of A.I. for children?
   
9. Google has stated that it has prioritized youth protections, particularly around emotional dependence and reinforcement of false beliefs. Please describe what steps Google has taken to prevent their A.I. chatbots from engaging in sycophantic or emotional conversations with children, including in light of failures to protect the Maryland student who was hospitalized after developing an intense dependence on Google's A.I.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal

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