New Yorkers protest Google's "A.i." policies for schools
The A.I. Moratorium for NYC Schools coalition held a rally outside of Google's Washington Street headquarters yesterday to slam "A.i." in education and Google's new policy of disabling search if schools want to shut off its "A.i." features.
These kids get it!
About 5o people showed up, representing groups like Comix Action, Alliance for Quality Education, Schools Beyond Screens, Distraction Free Schools, Librarians Equal Equity, Class Struggle Education Workers, and New York Communities for Change. Similar rallies were held on the same day in cities across the country, including Chicago, Boulder, Durham, Portland, Los Angeles and Cambridge.
Newly elected state assembly member David Siffert talked about the need to regulate "A.i." in the schools. They also said they weren't particularly troubled by Google threatening to withhold search - they said fine, let's get rid of Google entirely. We can find other services for search.
The folks behind Siffert in the photo are smiling and looking off to their left because construction workers across the street were cheering along. Everyone hates "A.i."!
Throughout the rally, kids drew with their own hands, using their own minds. This is what we need, not "A.i." chatbots and "A.i." slop.
State Senator Andrew Gounardes talked about becoming radicalized against ed tech when his kids entered the schools. He's currently pushing the New York Focus Act to regulate screens "A.i." and ed tech - more here.
This baby wants you to vote for the New York Focus Act.
The great Kelly Clancy from the A.I. Moratorium Coalition spoke of a recent news story about a girl whose mental health breakdown was apparently facilitated by Google's "A.i." bot - and then described Google Classroom's "A.i." search not just providing results, but talking to her own kid like a sycophantic chatbot.
This four year old was the youngest speaker ever at an A.I. Moratorium rally. She said she didn't want "A.i." to replace her school. It was a very kid-friendly event – lots of parents and tots running around.
Fantastic vibes throughout the event.
Clara and Grace from Class Struggle Education Workers critiquing education unions for collaborating with "A.i." companies. The very morning of the rally, Randi Weingarten of the AFT touted Anthropic joining the AFT and UFT's "A.i." privacy standards - while making no mention of all the other harms of "A.i."
The kids, as you might have heard, are all right.
Craig Everett of the A.I. Moratorium Coalition wanted to make sure everyone remembered Mayor Mamdani's recent words. Let's make sure he lives up to them, New York! Feel free to contact the mayor and tell him to cancel the "A.i." pilots he's currently planning to inflict on high schoolers in New York City!
Elyssa East from Distraction Free Schools tells ABC 7 what's what.
Naomi Sacks and Ethan Sacks represented Comix Action. Naomi made the great observation that many "A.i." advocates seem to think "A.i." is great for everyone ELSE'S field, but not their own. Leave schools (and artists!) alone!
Members of Librarians Equal Liberty showed up with a GREAT sign!
Exactly.
PEP member Naveed Hasan turned out.
Newly elected state assembly member Brian Romero speaking out. Romero was also super cool and held the bullhorn for multiple other speakers whose hands were busy holding their notes. We're lucky to have both him and David Siffert heading to Albany.
Ethan Sacks from Comix Action with a sign and face that sum up a lot of my feelings on the subject.
Sign up for the A.I. Moratorium mailing list to get involved yourself!
And if you're on Bluesky, here's a big starter pack of people and organizations fighting "A.i.," data centers, and big tech for your consideration!
Greg Pak is a proud member of both the A.I. Moratorium and Comix Action, which are mentioned in this article.
Unless otherwise credited, all photographs and video © 2026 Greg Pak, all rights reserved.