Protesters break into Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam
Protesters in Amsterdam breached a Microsoft data center construction site to demonstrate against the environmental and social impacts of AI infrastructure. The incident is part of a broader wave of European opposition to data center expansion.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing public backlash against the physical footprint and resource consumption of AI-focused data centers.
Protesters have broken into a construction site of a new Microsoft data center in Amsterdam this morning. Members of the Geef Tegengas group helped organize the protest against the construction of three 85-meter data center towers in the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Reuters reports that around 100 people made it into the construction site, with some scaling a crane to place a “fuck AI” banner. Protesters also unfurled a “Microsoft powers genocide” banner on the construction site, and chanted “Microsoft has got to go” and “free palestine.”
Also covering this story
2 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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