Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) criticized Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google efforts to expand artificial intelligence use in classrooms, warning that the company’s push could harm students’ academic performance and emotional well-being.
Blumenthal Slams Google’s AI Push In Schools
On Tuesday, in a post on X, Blumenthal wrote, "Google is putting profits over people—& children are paying the price."
He accused Google of "aggressively pushing AI in classrooms" and alleged that the company’s efforts were "damaging students’ academic & emotional well-being."
"I’m demanding Google be responsible," Blumenthal added.
AI Use Expands In Education
In August, Johns Hopkins University economist Steve Hanke said he could identify AI-generated assignments by spotting differences between students’ usual writing abilities and chatbot-generated work.
He said professors needed to be more alert when reviewing assignments, despite having "absolutely no problem with AI and students."
In July, Anthropic launched Claude for Teachers, offering verified U.S. K-12 educators free access to premium AI tools for lesson planning, curriculum development, assessments and administrative tasks.
The platform included education-focused tools and student privacy protections, with data shared through the service not being used to train its AI models.
Last year, The Mark Cuban Foundation partnered with AI in FW to offer free AI boot camps for students in grades 9-12 in Fort Wayne.
The program provided hands-on experience with AI applications, meals, transportation assistance and technology at no cost. Students also completed capstone projects with industry mentors.
AI and K-12 Education Reforms
In 2025, President Donald Trump signed separate executive orders promoting AI education, overhauling higher-education accreditation, revising federal guidance on school discipline and increasing transparency around foreign funding of U.S. universities.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman praised Alpha School as a "breakthrough innovation" for using AI tutors for two hours of daily academics, followed by four hours of leadership and life skills.
The private school operated campuses in Texas, Florida and California, with annual tuition ranging from $40,000 to $65,000.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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