What smart people in business and tech are saying about AI bans for schools

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani introduced a one-year ban on AI in schools, which he said could affect 600,000 public school students.

And the tech world has a lot to say.

On Wednesday, Mamdani proposed a moratorium that would ban the use of AI in schools for children from 2-K — school for two-year-olds — to eighth grade.

High school students will get “twice-yearly AI critical thinking modules.” The ban also includes screen time restrictions adjusted for the students’ grade level.

The same day, Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the US, introduced its own moratorium on AI for the rest of the school year.

It would apply to all students, including those in high school, but only on district-owned devices and student accounts.

Many in the tech world have taken to social media to criticize Mamdani’s AI ban, calling it counterproductive to restrict a technology that could be as transformational as the internet or computers.

Mamdani’s plan does not require city council approval.

Chancellor Kamar Samuels has already issued the moratorium as official NYC Public Schools guidance, stating that student-facing generative AI software “is not permitted” in grades K-8 during the 2026-27 school year.

However, some executives have called the moratorium a measured response to a technology with still-unclear ramifications for young, developing minds.

Here’s what smart people are saying about the AI bans for school students.