New York Bans AI Use for 600,000 Students Until High School
New York City just banned generative AI for over half a million students. Starting with the 2026-2027 school year, kids from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade cannot use tools like ChatGPT in classrooms.
Only high school students – typically aged 14 and above – will be permitted to use artificial intelligence in limited pilot programmes. Companion chatbots, designed specifically for emotional support, will be banned across all grades.
“The tech industry wants us to believe that AI in early education is not only inevitable, but that it is necessary. We do not see it that way,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference.
“I have yet to see a study showing that AI is beneficial for students in elementary and middle school, with the exception, of course, of research sponsored by the very corporations that stand to profit.”
Students in 2nd grade and under will see restricted one-on-one screen time, the release said. The city will also recommend screen time caps of 30 minutes per day for 3rd-5th grade students and 45 minutes for 6th-8th grade students.
In high schools, the city will pilot 5 “rigorously-vetted” educational AI programmes, limited in use to a maximum of 45 minutes each week under direct teacher supervision, Mamdani said. High schools will also offer AI literacy classes twice a year, according to the release.
“Whether we like it or not, our teenagers are growing up in an AI-saturated world. We cannot pretend that that world does not exist. It would be irresponsible not to prepare our children for the fast-evolving technological future that lies ahead,” the mayor said.
“So, in high school we will teach our students about AI, its opportunities and its pitfalls, its building blocks and its biases.”
“But I want to be very clear: In no way, shape or form will AI replace student-teacher interaction (which) is the foundation of our students’ educational experience. That will not change,” he added.
Under the new policy, teachers will still be allowed to use approved AI tools for instructional planning and operational tasks, the release noted.
The city, Mamdani said, will “embrace new technology, but only when it serves our students”.
“Kids need to learn to think for themselves, they need to work alongside their peers, they need to learn how to ask better questions, and they need to learn what it feels like to not know the answer,” he said.
“This is what learning is all about, and it is what city government is determined to protect.”
The new rules follow an initial framework published in March that allowed students to use AI for research, exploration and creative projects, sparking fury among many parents and teachers who considered it too lenient.
For many parents, the ban feels like a rare pause in a world racing toward more screens. New York is now asking a bigger question worth sitting with: What do children really need to learn how to think?
Source: Spectrum News NY1 (2 September 2026); AFP (3 September 2026); Factsy