NYC bans AI for 600k students until high school

new york city mayor zohran mamdani has introduced a policy banning ai use for students in 2-k through eighth grade, affecting 600,000 public school students, as part of the 2026-2027 school year. the policy also prohibits teachers from using ai to grade assignments and bans companion chatbots across all grades. high school students will be allowed to use ai in specific instances and receive ai literacy classes twice a year. the department of education will also limit screen time and introduce a pilot program for ai education tools in a small number of high school classrooms.