Google is facing a bipartisan Senate grilling over its aggressive push to put artificial intelligence in American classrooms amid mounting concerns that the technology could harm students’ academic performance and mental health.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter Wednesday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai demanding answers about what the search giant knows about the potential risks its AI products pose to children, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The two lawmakers wrote in the letter that they harbored “grave concern” that Google’s “aggressive push of AI products to children in schools is threatening the academic success and overall wellbeing of an entire generation.”
Blumenthal and Hawley demanded to know the extent of Google’s knowledge about those potential harms and why the company has made AI integration the default on educational devices.
In one of their most pointed demands, the senators asked whether Google has identified instances in which its classroom AI tools “encouraged a minor to engage in harmful behavior, emotional dependence, or failed to detect signs of suicidal or self-harm ideation.”
The lawmakers also pressed Google to explain what safeguards it has implemented to prevent chatbots from engaging in inappropriate emotional exchanges with children, citing the case of a Maryland teenager who was hospitalized after developing an intense dependence on the company’s AI.
They demanded an accounting of Google’s promotional efforts to expand AI adoption in schools, including how much the company has spent on such programs.
“Google is forcing their AI products into classrooms across America, and children are paying the price,” Blumenthal and Hawley wrote in the missive, a copy of which was obtained by The Post.
The inquiry follows a bombshell Sept. 30 investigation by the Journal that detailed how Google’s AI tools have fueled academic and emotional dependence among students, raising questions about the company’s efforts to promote the technology despite warnings from its own researchers.
The newspaper interviewed more than 60 teachers, school administrators, parents, students and clinicians who described children increasingly relying on AI to complete assignments, answer basic questions and navigate personal problems.
Google’s researchers have also warned that the technology could undermine children’s cognitive development and emotional well-being, according to the Journal’s review of more than a dozen company research papers and interviews with current and former employees.
“Children need opportunities to work through uncertainty, make mistakes and discover that they can solve problems with support,” behavioral scientist Dr. Abbie Maroño told The Post.
“If AI repeatedly supplies the answer before they have tried, it can remove opportunities to develop those skills.”
Maroño also warned that chatbots can create a misleading sense of trust through their reassuring responses.
“A response can feel caring without being accurate or appropriate for that child,” she said.
“Systems should be independently tested for how they respond to distress, repeated reassurance-seeking and a child treating the chatbot as their only source of support.”
Google has insisted that its Gemini chatbot has special safeguards to prevent children from developing emotional attachments to the technology or receiving responses that reinforce potentially harmful beliefs.
In an April 7 policy statement, Google outlined “protections designed to prevent Gemini from acting like a companion,” along with safeguards intended to discourage emotional dependence by avoiding “language that simulates intimacy or expresses needs.”
The company also said it had trained Gemini “not to agree with or reinforce false beliefs,” instead steering users toward objective information and real-world support.
Google said it was introducing a simplified “one-touch” interface designed to connect users experiencing suicidal thoughts or other mental health crises with professional support through calls, texts or online chats.
The company also announced that its philanthropic arm, Google.org, would provide $30 million over three years to support crisis hotlines worldwide.
Google acknowledged that AI presents new mental health challenges and cautioned that Gemini “is not a substitute for professional clinical care, therapy, or crisis support for those who need it.”
The senators gave the company a Nov. 2 deadline to provide answers.
The Post has sought comment from Google.