NEW YORK — New York City announced a one-year moratorium on students using artificial intelligence in public elementary and middle schools Wednesday, marking the most restrictive policy of its kind adopted by a major American school district.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, alongside Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, unveiled the policy just days before the city's roughly 1 million public school students return to classrooms for the 2026-27 school year on Sept. 10. The moratorium will bar the use of generative AI tools among students from the city's 2-K early childhood program through eighth grade, affecting nearly 600,000 students, or about two-thirds of the district's total enrollment.

Mamdani said the decision reflected a broader philosophy about how children learn best, emphasizing direct human interaction over reliance on artificial intelligence tools.

"Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow," Mamdani said at a press conference announcing the policy. "They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own."

As part of the rollout, the city said it would disable AI components embedded in nearly 40 educational technology programs currently used in New York City classrooms that do not meet the administration's new safety and oversight standards. High school students will still be permitted to use AI in certain limited circumstances, and the district plans to introduce AI literacy instruction for older students even as younger children remain barred from using the tools directly.

Teachers, meanwhile, will retain the ability to use AI for administrative purposes such as lesson planning and scheduling,........

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