Around 100 protesters broke into the construction site of a new Microsoft data center in Amsterdam on Friday morning. Some of them climbed a crane and hung a banner attacking the artificial intelligence industry. Others unfurled a banner reading “Microsoft powers genocide” and chanted “Microsoft has got to go” and “free Palestine.”
The action group Geef Tegengas helped organize the demonstration. The group is campaigning against three data center towers, each 85 meters tall, planned for the outskirts of the Dutch capital. Reuters first reported the break-in and the size of the crowd.
A city that tried to say no
Amsterdam has been trying to slow this kind of construction for years. The city announced a temporary stop on new data centers at the end of 2023. It then banned new data centers outright until 2030. That ban did not stop this project, because the plan dates back to 2016 and was already in the pipeline before the rules changed.
The site is being built by the British developer Pure Data Centres, which found ways around local restrictions to reach the construction stage. Microsoft will be the only tenant once the facility opens. For critics, the project shows how hard it is for a municipality to control infrastructure built for global AI demand.
Protests are spreading across Europe
The Amsterdam action fits a wider pattern. On Tuesday, activists set up a mock Israeli military checkpoint outside a Microsoft data center in Dublin. Similar protests have appeared in several European countries in recent weeks. Organizers say they are angry about water use, electricity demand, and the company’s contracts with governments.
Voters in the United States sent a related signal this week. In several local ballots, residents rejected plans for unrestrained data center development. Opposition usually centers on power bills, land use, and noise rather than AI itself.
Microsoft has also run into infrastructure limits. Last month the company abandoned what would have been the largest data center project in the United Kingdom. Local grid officials said the site could not be supplied with power until the 2030s. The company has faced internal dissent too, including protests at its 50th anniversary event and a disruption at its Build developer conference.
The Amsterdam site is still under construction. It is not clear whether the protest will delay work or change the terms of the project. What is clear is that data center construction has become a political issue in Europe, not just an engineering one. Read the full Verge report by Tom Warren for details and images from the site.
Related reading: OpenAI drops NDAs with public officials after data centers lose the midterms and AI data centers are draining Arizona’s water supply.
The Netherlands, for internationals
One email a week: the week's news for internationals in the Netherlands, new practical guides and what changed in the cities. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
