New York City officials have announced a one-year moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence in public elementary and middle schools, making it the most restrictive such policy yet among major US school districts.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday that schools would halt the use of about 40 AI-powered educational tools currently being used in classrooms across the city.

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

The policy will affect about 600,000 public school students through eighth grade. High school students will still be permitted to use AI in some cases, while teachers will be allowed to use the technology for lesson planning, scheduling and other administrative tasks, the city said in a statement.

The move comes as public officials across the United States grapple with how to regulate the use of rapidly developing AI technology in classrooms. Other major school districts, including Los Angeles, are reviewing their AI policies.

Major AI developers Google, Anthropic and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

New York City public schools previously imposed a temporary ban on ChatGPT shortly after its launch in 2022. The restriction was later lifted and replaced with a custom AI-powered teaching assistant, according to Microsoft, a co-owner of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.