Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook (now Meta), popularized the phrase “move fast and break things” around 2010, as a rallying cry for rapid tech innovation, even if it meant making mistakes along the way. While Google never explicitly adopted this mantra, its recent actions that have spawned this article, granting AI access to children with limited parental safeguards, suggest a shift toward a similarly fast-paced, risk-tolerant mindset that echoes the ethos Zuckerberg once proudly embraced, especially when it comes to AI.
Google has begun notifying parents and caregiver who use its Family Link service that children under the age of 13 will soon be able to access “Gemini”, the company’s generative AI chatbot, on Android devices, including all Chromebooks. This announcement, first reported by The New York Times, (1) signals a major shift in how artificial intelligence tools are being made available to younger users,
What Is Gemini and Why Is This a Big Deal?
Gemini is Google’s AI-powered chatbot designed to assist with tasks such as reading stories, answering questions, and helping with homework. While these features may sound beneficial, the move to open access to children has sparked worry. In emails sent to parents, Google itself warns that “Gemini can make mistakes” and that children “may encounter content you don’t want them to see.”
Despite these cautions, children under 13 will be able to enable and use Gemini on their own through their Family Link-managed Android devices. This means a child could start interacting with Gemini before a parent is even aware.
Can Parents Turn It Off?
Yes, but the responsibility is on the parent to act. Parents can disable access to Gemini through the Family Link app or website, which we believe is ass backwards. Additionally, Google says parents will receive a notification when their child accesses Gemini for the first time, but this alert comes after access has already been granted, not before. In other words, unless a parent proactively turns off Gemini, a child could begin chatting with the AI before any meaningful conversation with a caregiver has taken place. What the Frick!!!
In an attempt to reassure families, Google has stated that children’s data will not be used to train its AI models. Yea right, Google has been caught doing things they said they would never do! Handing a powerful AI chatbot to young users with minimal oversight and vague warnings places the burden of protection on already overwhelmed parents.
NOTE – Schools can choose to opt in or out via their Admin console
Why This Matters!
Google Family Link was originally created to help parents manage their child’s screen time, limit access to inappropriate content, and supervise device use. Enabling AI tools like Gemini within this environment without strong safeguards or opt-in consent from parents represents a potentially risky step.
AI tools are still evolving, and while they can offer educational benefits, they are also capable of generating content that is inaccurate, confusing, or inappropriate for young minds. Other AI platforms have already shown how easily things can go wrong, from generating misleading information to blurring the lines between fact and fiction. (2)
This latest move by Google is part of a growing trend where Big Tech continues to blur the lines of what is considered appropriate or safe when it comes to children’s interaction with advanced technologies like AI. By quietly introducing powerful tools like Gemini into environments designed for children, and placing the burden of oversight on parents after the fact, tech companies shift responsibility without offering meaningful safeguards.
If these tools are capable of generating content that may be inaccurate, confusing, or inappropriate, and are made available to young users by default, it raises a critical question, “are these decisions truly being made in the best interests of children, or are they driven by market expansion and profit at the expense of safety? When the protection of children relies on parents playing digital catch-up, we must ask, “who is actually being protected the child, or the corporation?”
Google’s decision to roll out Gemini to children under 13 without strong, proactive parental consent reflects a broader trend in Big Tech where innovation and financial profit is prioritized over safety, and convenience is mistaken for care. The “move fast and break things” mentality, once championed by Zuckerberg, is now echoing through Google’s actions, and other big tech companies, where rapid AI deployment takes precedence over thoughtful, child-centered design.
While AI has potential to support learning, handing over such powerful tools to young users with minimal oversight, vague warnings, and after-the-fact notifications places families in a reactive position, not a protective one. If children are expected to engage responsibly with technology, then tech giants must lead responsibly, by ensuring that safety isn’t an afterthought, but a foundational priority. This is why we need meaningful legislation to hold big tech accountable that demands safety by design when it comes to our kids.
This development only emphasizes why we believe that for youth and younger teens, they should not be given a full functioning Android or iPhone, but rather a minimalist phone. (3)
How to Turn Off Gemini Access in Google Family Link
Disabling Gemini will prevent your child from accessing the AI chatbot through Google Assistant on their devices
Using the Family Link App (Android or iOS)
- Open the Family Link app on your device.
- Select your child’s profile.
- Tap Controls.
- Tap Content Restrictions.
- Tap Google Assistant.
- Tap Access to Gemini.
- Toggle off the switch to disable Gemini access.
Using the Web (familylink.google.com)
- Visit familylink.google.com and sign in to your account.
- Select your child’s profile.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Click on Google Assistant.
- Click on Access to Gemini.
- Toggle off the switch to disable Gemini access.
Digital Food For Thought
The White Hatter
Facts Not Fear, Facts Not Emotions, Enlighten Not Frighten, Know Tech Not No Tech
References:
1/ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/technology/google-gemini-ai-chatbot-kids.html
