New York City Bans Student AI Use in Public Schools Through 8th Grade for One Year

New York City is imposing a one-year moratorium on student-facing artificial intelligence tools in its public schools, barring their use from preschool through eighth grade and covering roughly 600,000 students. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced the policy together, with Mamdani stating: "The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way." Chatbots will be prohibited across all grades during the ban period, and schools will also introduce new screen-time limits for elementary and middle school students.

The policy carves out narrow exceptions: assistive technology for students with disabilities may still be permitted, as may AI tools used in career-readiness programs such as computer science. Teachers retain the ability to use AI for instructional planning, though reports indicate they will not be allowed to use it to grade assignments. The city is simultaneously developing AI literacy classes for high school students.

City officials framed the ban as a deliberate pause rather than a permanent prohibition. The city plans to release a study with recommendations for how AI should be handled in coming school years, signaling that the policy could be revised once officials have assessed the technology's impact on learning.