DuckDuckGo courts schools as Google ties AI opt-out to Search

Google's move to let schools disable Gemini while warning that turning off other AI features would also remove Google Search has created an opening for DuckDuckGo. Google has historically dominated education, with around 50 million Chromebooks in schools and its Google Classroom platform serving over 150 million users globally, according to figures Google has published in previous years.

DuckDuckGo, which focuses on user privacy by limiting data collection, is not anti-AI—it offers its own AI features including a chat interface called Duck.ai and an AI search assistant. But unlike Google, it says it provides options to disable these features in both its search and browser settings, and it operates a dedicated site, noai.duckduckgo.com, where AI-assisted answers, AI-generated images, and AI feature suggestions are all turned off. That flexibility may be driving demand: the company reported earlier this year that its app installs were up 30% as users rejected being force-fed Google's AI Search.

Google defended its decision by saying it was responding to schools' feedback, and that Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Search would be off by default, with schools able to enable them individually. But educators are still asking for tools that let them remove AI from the learning process altogether, which is the gap DuckDuckGo is trying to fill.