New York City is imposing a one-year moratorium on generative AI for pupils from 2-K through eighth grade, removing student-facing AI software and companion chatbots for around 600,000 children. Norway banned generative AI in its primary schools in June, and the EU AI Act regulates AI used on pupils rather than AI used by them.
New York City is barring generative AI for pupils from pre-school through eighth grade. The moratorium covers around 600,000 children and starts with the 2026-27 school year, ABC News reported.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani framed it as a refusal. “The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary“, he said. “We do not see it that way.”
The district is removing software rather than issuing guidance. All student-facing generative AI is being eliminated and companion chatbots are banned outright, the mayor’s office said.
High schools are exempt, but narrowly. Up to 50,000 pupils can join five pilot programmes, capped at five classes per school, with twice-yearly literacy modules for everyone else.
