Protesters Storm Microsoft Data Centre Site in Amsterdam as Europe-Wide Backlash Grows
More than 100 protesters broke into the construction site of a planned Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam on Friday, climbing a crane and setting off flares, in the opening act of a two-day campaign against artificial intelligence infrastructure across Europe.
Dutch police said they arrested between 150 and 200 people on suspicion of trespassing during the protest at the site in the Sloterdijk district, according to Al Jazeera. The action, organised by the Dutch direct-action group Geef Tegengas, was the first of 85 planned actions in 15 European countries under the “Stop Dirty Data Centres” banner.
What happened in Sloterdijk
The Associated Press reported that protesters entered the site on Plimsollweg on Friday, with some climbing a crane and setting off flares while others clashed with police. Demonstrators spray-painted the concrete foundations and hung banners reading “Screw your datacentre” and “Fuck AI”.
Bloomberg reported that two groups entered the site by cutting open a gate, citing a police statement. Police confiscated items including an angle grinder and climbing equipment, and one officer suffered minor injuries.
Nathan Timmer, a spokesperson for Geef Tegengas — a name that translates roughly as “Push Back” — told local broadcaster AT5 that protesters were occupying the site in an effort to stop construction. “We don’t want it to be built. Nobody needs it,” he said. “The only thing this will be used for is AI slop, AI warfare, data surveillance, and committing genocide. We don’t want that.”
The group was joined by Extinction Rebellion, Fossiel Vrij Nederland and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Some in the crowd chanted “Microsoft has got to go” and “Free Palestine”, reflecting two of the protesters’ stated concerns: opposition to data-centre expansion and allegations about Microsoft’s reported technology contracts.
A project at the centre of a power dispute
The facility is being developed by the British firm Pure Data Centres Group, with Microsoft set to be its sole tenant. It is planned to have a capacity of 78 megawatts across three towers of about 85 metres each, with investment reported at more than $1 billion.
Campaigners say the site could consume as much electricity as all of Amsterdam’s households combined, and argue it threatens plans for about 30,000 homes in the area. Amsterdam has restricted new data-centre development under a moratorium running to 2030, citing pressure on electricity supply, land, water and housing — but the Sloterdijk project was grandfathered in because its planning dates back to around 2016.
Pure Data Centres asked the protesters to leave safely and offered to discuss residents’ concerns. Microsoft said it respected the right to peaceful protest but did not condone unlawful actions or those that risked public safety.
A two-day campaign across Europe
The Amsterdam action was billed as the opening event of the “Stop Dirty Data Centres” campaign, a coalition of more than 100 environmental groups and digital-rights campaigns, including national branches of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. The coalition is demanding an immediate moratorium on large-scale data-centre construction.
Further actions were planned for Saturday in Denmark, Dublin, Warsaw and other cities, with organisers saying events would take place in 15 European countries, including Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Britain.
Protesters have pointed to Microsoft’s reported contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Israeli military, as well as the energy and water demands of AI systems. Those allegations are the protesters’ characterisations, not established fact, and Microsoft has not said whether the Amsterdam incident will affect the project’s timeline.
The backlash is not only European
Opposition to data-centre expansion has been building on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, US voters rejected data-centre ballot measures in several communities this week, as residents push back against the power and water demands of new facilities.
The backlash comes as AI spending by the biggest technology companies reaches record levels, with firms racing to build the AI compute campuses needed to train and run ever-larger models. That build-out has made data centres — once largely invisible infrastructure — a focus of political protest in the Netherlands, the United States and beyond.
By late Friday afternoon, police were escorting activists off the Amsterdam site, though some remained, according to local media. The campaign’s organisers have vowed to keep protesting until construction is halted.
