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New York City mayor announces one-year ban on AI tools in public schools
ReNew York City mayor announces one-year ban on AI tools in public schools
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI for children in 2-K through eighth grade, covering nearly 600,000 students. The policy replaces permissive guidance and comes amid pressure from advocates seeking a longer pause.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI tools for children in 2-K through eighth grade, a policy affecting nearly 600,000 students in the nation's largest public school system. The ban, announced Wednesday, also prohibits companion chatbots across every grade level.
City Hall is calling the measure the most expansive student-facing AI policy in the country. The move replaces the city's previous permissive guidance, which sorted AI uses into barred, cautioned, and allowed categories but left student use in a vague middle tier.
«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,» 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.»
The mayor, who said he does not use AI himself, framed the decision as protecting core learning skills. «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 announcement follows months of pressure from education advocates. In April, a coalition of more than 250 doctors, child development experts, and advocacy organizations called for a five-year moratorium on generative AI in pre-K through 12 schools. Two months later, a majority of the City Council signed a letter asking for an immediate two-year pause, citing risks to student privacy and critical thinking. Parents, teachers, and artists rallied at City Hall over the summer pushing the same two-year figure.
Leonie Haimson of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, who was part of the April coalition, had criticized the mayor's earlier stance. «He said he himself doesn't use AI, which is good, but why is he foisting it on New York City public school students?» she told Fortune at the time.
Fairplay, the child advocacy group that led the April coalition, called the one-year moratorium «a step in the right direction» but said it «raises serious concerns.» Campaign Director David Monahan noted that the coalition, known as the AI Moratorium for NYC Schools, has consistently called for a two-year pause. «It's not too late to heed their call,» he said.
Samuels acknowledged that the city's earlier March policy «missed the mark» and said Wednesday's moratorium replaces it. «We're standing firmly in our belief that innovation does not mean more technology,» he said.
The policy has drawn opposition from some technology advocates. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who has promoted Alpha School, a private network using AI tutoring software, has called AI «the first truly breakthrough innovation in K-12 education» since KIPP Academy. More than 250 CEOs, including leaders of Microsoft, Adobe, Dell, AMD, and IBM, signed an open letter through the CSforAll's Unlock8 campaign calling for mandatory computer science and AI education in every U.S. high school.
«In the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the future—to be AI creators, not just consumers,» the letter states. President Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 directing federal agencies to expand AI training grants and classroom resources for K-12 students, framing early AI literacy as a matter of economic competitiveness.
Julie Samuels, president and CEO of the tech industry group Tech:NYC, was quoted in the city's press release praising the policy with a caveat about the need to prepare students for a technology-driven economy.
