Activists break into Microsoft datacentre construction site in Amsterdam

Activists have broken into the construction site of a Microsoft datacentre in Amsterdam, in a sign that opposition to the social and environmental damage linked to the AI boom is spreading across Europe.

Members of Geef Tegengas, a Dutch direct action group, clashed with police as they entered the site at Westpoort, Amsterdam. Some protesters climbed a crane, set off flares and attached helium balloons to equipment.

The action took place against a backdrop of Europe-wide resistance to the rapid growth of energy-hungry AI infrastructure. More than 100 groups joined a two-day series of protests calling for moratoria on the building of new datacentres.

During the break-in, protesters hung banners objecting to Microsoft's services to the Israeli military and to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The occupation was separate from the pan-European Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign, which targeted the same location but whose affiliated members remained outside the perimeter fence.

Police told Dutch public broadcaster NOS that officers had tried to stop the occupation and arrest protesters but were unable to prevent it, and that force was used. One officer was slightly injured. Activists from both groups said police used force and teargas against those attempting to enter the site, while organisers and local media reported hundreds of protesters gathered on each side of the fence.

Smaller demonstrations were held in central Bristol in the UK, at a datacentre in Berlin, outside the Polish parliament in Warsaw and on the main square in Zagreb, Croatia. Further protests were expected on Saturday.

Stop Dirty Data Centres, a coalition of independent groups including national branches of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, said it had not coordinated or promoted the direct action in the Netherlands, but called it understandable that communities would adopt a range of tactics when excluded from meaningful decision-making. Campaign coordinator Owen Espley said: "Big tech and government are racing ahead with large-scale datacentre development despite significant public concern about the impacts on local communities, natural resources and other industries."

Roos Molenaar, an activist with Geef Tegengas, said the fight against big tech could not be separated from the struggle against oppression and fascism. "We won't accept Amsterdam being used for the creation of AI slop and the facilitation of genocide," Molenaar said. "This datacentre is gulping up our drinking water to make the rich even richer."

Microsoft said it was aware of the demonstration and that its first concern was the wellbeing of everyone at and around the site, adding that it respected the right to peaceful expression but did not condone unlawful actions or anything that put safety at risk. Pure Data Centres, the site owner, said it respected peaceful protest but that entering a live construction site was unlawful and dangerous, and asked those on site to leave safely and engage in dialogue.

European governments have backed AI datacentre construction to raise tax revenues and keep pace with computing power deployment in the US and China, with some casting the AI race as a national security issue. But datacentres have become a flashpoint for anger over the environment, energy, human rights and democracy, and in the US midterm elections this week nearly every proposed datacentre moratorium on the ballot was approved. Last week, an investigation by the Guardian and Investigate Europe found evidence of dangerous conditions for some of the workers building the facilities.