Microsoft introduces AI guardrails for US schools amid growing backlash

Microsoft is introducing guardrails and privacy standards for its AI in schools in the United States, as negotiated with the country’s second-largest teachers' union, amid a growing backlash against AI and screen time. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The agreement, signed last week, prohibits the use of AI companions or features “designed to foster emotional attachment or dependency” or designed to keep students engaged for longer than a learning task requires. The standards are legally binding and require third-party audits to check compliance. As part of the wide-ranging agreement, Microsoft says it will not use student or educator data to train AI systems, apart from a narrow exception for data that could help protect students. It says the data it collects cannot be sold, used for advertising or used for product development. It also includes audit and transparency measures requiring the company to explain to families in plain language how its tools work and what data they collect. “This standard sets a high bar for child privacy and AI safety, and we’ll extend this agreement to every school district across the country,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chair and president, in a statement. The standards will apply to Microsoft school contracts across the US from November 1, according to the company. Is an AI brake needed in European classrooms? AI is already making its way into European classrooms and young people are also increasingly turning to chatbots beyond schoolwork. A European Commission study of early adopters in secondary schools in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain found students were using generative AI to explain difficult topics, practise skills and prepare for exams. Meanwhile, a separate 2026 survey of young people aged 11 to 25 in France, Germany, Sweden and Ireland found nearly half had turned to AI chatbots for emotional support and 51% felt comfortable discussing personal or mental health issues with them. Some European governments are already drawing limits around younger pupils' use. Norway said this year that children aged roughly six to 12 should generally not use generative AI themselves for schoolwork, while those aged around 13 to 15 can begin experimenting with it cautiously. France allows pupils to learn about AI at primary-school age but says they should not directly use generative AI. Supervised classroom use can begin from around age 13 or 14. A document seen by Euronews suggests that the European Commission will propose barring under-15s from risky online services like AI chatbots in a legislative proposal that will be published on Thursday. OpenAI and Anthropic in talks over similar safeguards While experts say the safety provisions in the US agreement are meaningful, some warn that stronger safeguards should not automatically be interpreted as an endorsement of greater AI use in schools. “I worry that a high-profile framework like this will be misunderstood and schools will think, ‘If they’re doing a good job on data privacy and safety, then that means we should be using the tool,’” said Josh Golin, executive director of US online safety nonprofit Fairplay. Golin says the standards will only be effective if other major AI companies also sign on. “Is Google going to embrace this framework? That is a huge question,” he said. Google faced criticism in the US after expanding Gemini-powered tools in Google Classroom in August to school-issued accounts used by students under 18. Critics have described the expansion as another step in the competition between tech giants to establish their AI products in schools and reach younger users. Google says Classroom is used by more than 150 million teachers and students worldwide. The teachers union is also in talks with OpenAI and Anthropic, which both publicly welcomed the Microsoft agreement. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, called it an “important milestone for AI safety and privacy in schools.” The company said it had been working with the teachers union and expected to finalise its own agreement. Anthropic, the maker of Claude, said it also supported efforts to promote responsible AI use in education and was working with the union on safety and privacy standards.