{
  "id": 5490579,
  "title": "What smart people in business and tech are saying about AI bans for schools",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/what-smart-people-in-business-and-tech-are-saying-about-ai-bans-for",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-04T04:01:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/what-smart-people-are-saying-about-school-ai-bans-mamdani-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Mayoral moratorium on AI use in NYC schools has generated mixed reactions from tech leaders. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's proposal bans AI for students from kindergarten to 8th grade, with high schoolers receiving AI critical thinking modules twice a year. Screen time restrictions are also adjusted per grade level. Los Angeles Unified School District mirrored the NYC ban for the rest of the school year. Critics argue the ban is counterproductive, saying the technology could be transformative like the internet or computers. Tech executives like Sriram Krishnan, a former White House policy advisor, believe AI's impact on development is unknown and that it makes sense to not automate cognitive skills before kids can acquire them. Zach Tratar, an engineering lead at Notion AI, is pro-AI and believes AI effects on children should remain experimental until more is known. Noah Fichter, CEO of Scout, feels frustrated by the tech world's reaction to the AI ban, noting schools have no idea what to do about AI and that many school-specific chatbots are decreasing scores. Stanford Law School lecturer Sarah Shirazyan expects AI in classrooms to be a major topic for public debate and an issue in elections, suggesting the moratorium is a way to understand the evidence better. Tech investor Dylan Itzikowit argues the ban is unfortunate, likening it to banning computers in the 1990s or the internet in the 2000s. AI-powered productivity app founder Gabriel Petersson compares banning AI to banning all computers and giving someone a corporate job, stating that kids will use AI assistance in white collar jobs. Will Hobick, head of design engineering at Rocket, calls banning AI in schools completely backwards.",
  "summary": "The tech world has split opinions on how they feel about the NYC Mayor banning AI use in schools.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}