New York City will bar students from second grade through eighth grade from using generative AI for one year starting in the 2026-2027 school year. The policy will affect nearly 600,000 students, or about two-thirds of total enrollment, and prohibits all student-facing generative AI software. The city will also ban assistive chatbots across all grades, including high school. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the technology industry is pushing AI-driven early education as necessary, but the city rejects that view and maintains that children need teachers and human interaction to learn and grow.