Google Sets School AI Search Rule as West Virginia Clears 10-GW Site

Google Mandates AI-Integrated Search for Public School Districts

Public school systems across California face a mid-year software decision after Google announced that starting in January 2027 it plans to block K-12 learners from using its search engine unless school districts opt into the company's artificial-intelligence-enabled version, according to reporting by Vani Sanganeria and Mallika Seshadri for EdSource published in the Mountain View Voice and The Almanac.

During a virtual briefing on November 2, Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager of education, stated that if a school is uncomfortable with the feature and simply wants AI turned off, administrators have the choice not to have Search turned on at all. Under the policy detailed in a November 3 blog post and a subsequent post on X, Google will block both its integrated AI tool and Google Search for K-12 learners unless a district turns either feature on, leaving no option for a standalone search engine without AI integration. While districts can disable separate standalone products such as Gemini and Gemini Notebook, AI Mode and AI Overview will remain integrated into Google Search, with the company's "Guided Learning" product set as the default to provide step-by-step problem solving.

The announcement complicates local governance in districts such as Los Angeles Unified, California's largest public school system, which utilizes a statewide purchasing arrangement for Google Workspace for Education—including Google Docs and Slides—and has already established restrictions on generative AI alongside a Generative AI Ad Hoc Committee. Long Beach Unified has similarly convened a technology policy group of educators, learners, administrators, and industry specialists while conducting a survey on classroom AI usage.

Lila Byock, founder of the parent advocacy organization Schools Beyond Screens, characterized Google's decision as an act of "bullying" and urged school boards to divest from the company's software, arguing that educational value rather than shareholder value must govern classroom tools. In a recent evaluation by Common Sense Media, researchers reported that roughly three-quarters of young American respondents interact with AI summaries in search results, and across a series of 180 tests, Google's AI Mode completed homework assignments every time while occasionally inventing answers, returning inconsistent responses to identical prompts, and citing Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube. Yvette Renteria, chief program officer at Common Sense Media, noted that losing non-AI search or losing search entirely both represent missed opportunities for media literacy. Rory Mir, director of community tech engagement at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), warned that long-term software contracts and staff training costs make switching platforms mid-year expensive and disruptive.

West Virginia Certifies 3,557-Acre Boone County AI Data Center

While school administrators debate software defaults, state regulators in Appalachia have cleared a massive physical footprint for artificial-intelligence compute. According to Hoodline, the West Virginia Department of Commerce certified Houston-based LM Core Energy Services Inc.'s petition for "Project Country Roads" as a High Impact Data Center on the former Hobet surface mine at 5151 Shaffer Road north of Danville in Boone County.

Commerce Secretary Matthew Herridge signed the certification notice for the phased artificial-intelligence and high-performance-computing campus, which covers roughly 3,557 acres in its petition filing and references broader planning proposals of up to 8,000 acres. While the certification describes an anticipated full-campus electric demand of about 1.4 gigawatts, planning documents contemplate up to 10 gigawatts of power, with TensorWave identified as an anticipated tenant. The approval is conditional on a supplemental project commitment requiring LM Core Energy Services Inc.—led by CEO Jarrette Lewis—to coordinate with the department on schedule, infrastructure, and mitigation updates and submit quarterly written status reports once finalized.

The certification was processed under House Bill 2014, adopted in March 2025 at the request of Gov. Patrick Morrisey, which classifies facilities demanding 90 megawatts or more as high-impact data centers, removes local zoning control, and mandates confidentiality for developer letters of intent. At a January 2026 legislative rulemaking review meeting, Republican lawmakers rejected an amendment proposed by Delegate Kayla Young to allow public viewing of redacted filings. Project Country Roads follows earlier certifications in Berkeley County and Mason County, including Starwood Digital Ventures' $12 billion, 2.16-gigawatt Project Tamarack (certified May 26) and Nscale's Monarch Compute Campus and Monarch Cloud Campus near Point Pleasant (certified August 26 with 1.35 gigawatts planned in phase one, a 1.3-gigawatt minimum capacity, and an option to scale to 8 gigawatts across projections of 2 gigawatts supporting 4,375 construction jobs and 645 permanent jobs), where a separated silt fence released water after a May deluge.

Binance Refutes 335-Million-Record ShinyHunters Extortion Claim

In the digital-asset security arena, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has denied allegations of a platform breach after an underground forum post using the "ShinyHunters" handle offered 335 million alleged user records for sale while demanding a $900,000 extortion payment, according to BleepingComputer.

The forum actor claimed to possess Know Your Customer (KYC) documents, internal infrastructure details, account passwords, cryptocurrency wallet private keys, transaction histories, email addresses, and phone numbers. A Binance spokesperson told BleepingComputer that the exchange found no evidence that its systems, KYC data, credentials, or wallet keys were compromised, noting that Binance does not hold private keys for external wallets, does not store passwords in plaintext, and no longer operates in several jurisdictions listed by the seller. The refutation comes one week after Binance confirmed that North Korean state-backed hackers tracked by the FBI as TraderTraitor (also known as Lazarus Group, Jade Sleet, and APT38)—previously linked to a $1.5 billion Bybit theft in February 2025—used a fake job interview to install malware and steal approximately $6.34 billion in cryptocurrency.