Protesters break into Microsoft's Amsterdam data center site as police make arrests

What happened in Amsterdam?

Protesters broke into the construction site of a new Microsoft data center on the outskirts of Amsterdam on Friday morning, during a demonstration organized by the activist group Geef Tegengas, The Verge reported. About 100 people made it onto the site, according to a Reuters witness cited by The Verge and TNW. Some of the protesters got in by breaking through a fence, and some climbed a construction crane.

A spokesperson for Geef Tegengas told local broadcaster AT5 that about 500 people had entered the site, while hundreds more stayed outside, TNW reported. Riot police were sent to the site, near Sloterdijk in the city's western port area, and made several arrests, according to AT5 and TNW. Earlier in the morning, police had stopped the march on its way to the site, and the mayor then banned the demonstration, Dutch news agency ANP reported via TNW.

AT5, reporting live from the scene, said hundreds of demonstrators remained on the site, that a police officer was lightly injured, and that one demonstrator was arrested for obstructing police work. Police said they had tried to prevent the entry and arrest demonstrators but could not hold them back, and that force was used, according to AT5.

Reuters reported that some protesters scaled a crane to place a banner reading “fuck AI”, while others unfurled a banner reading “Microsoft powers genocide” on the construction site and chanted “Microsoft has got to go” and “free Palestine”, The Verge reported. AT5 described two separate demonstrations at the location: Geef Tegengas supporters inside the site and the group Fossiel Vrij Nederland protesting outside it, with an estimated 300 to 400 people joining the outside protest.

AT5's live reporting showed the police operation escalating through the morning. A specialized climbing unit was preparing to act as the protest went on, and a demonstrator on the construction site told AT5 the group would not leave voluntarily for the next two hours. The organizers also accused the police of behaving badly and said the right to protest had been ignored, according to TNW. The police account published by AT5 said a demonstrator had not responded to repeated calls to hand over certain items, which led to resistance and confrontations, and that an officer was lightly injured.

Why is the data center controversial?

The project consists of three buildings, each 85 meters tall, that Microsoft will rent in full, TNW reported. Plans were first filed in 2016, before Amsterdam banned new data centers within the city, so the provincial government allowed the project to go ahead in January, Dutch publication DutchNews reported, according to TNW.

Amsterdam banned new data centers until 2030 after a temporary stop that was announced at the end of 2023, The Verge reported. Microsoft will be the sole tenant of the new data center, and the site is being built by British developer Pure Data Centres, which The Verge said has navigated loopholes to reach the construction stage.

Critics say the project gets around Dutch rules on very large data centers, TNW reported. Geef Tegengas, which campaigns against fossil fuels, wants construction to stop and says the site will use as much electricity as every household in Amsterdam combined and will slow the building of 30,000 new homes, according to TNW. City officials have also warned that shortages on the power grid threaten plans for new homes and schools, TNW reported.

A wave of data center protests

Friday's protest was part of two days of action against data centers planned in several European countries on November 6 and 7, TNW reported. The same week, activists staged a mock Israeli military checkpoint outside a Microsoft data center in Dublin on Tuesday, The Verge reported. The Amsterdam site had been targeted before: in July, Extinction Rebellion activists threw balloons filled with acid and paint over its fence, TNW reported.

The unrest extends beyond Europe. Earlier this week, voters across the United States rejected unrestrained development of data centers in local ballot measures, The Verge reported, even as AI data centers continue to be built across the country with frequent opposition from local communities.

Microsoft also abandoned the UK's largest data center project last month, after local electricity grid officials said the site would not be supplied with power until the 2030s, The Verge reported. We covered that decision in our earlier story on Microsoft pulling out of the Loughton data center project, and the wider backlash is a theme we have followed in coverage of Meta's warning that election backlash against data centers could threaten AI expansion.

Microsoft itself has faced a wave of protests from former employees over the past year, The Verge reported. The company's 50th anniversary party was interrupted by employees protesting the use of Microsoft's technologies in Israel's war against Hamas, with one calling Microsoft's AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, a “war profiteer”. A Microsoft employee also disrupted the company's Build developer conference last year, interrupting chief executive Satya Nadella's keynote, and months later the company fired two employee protesters who had occupied its president's office, according to The Verge.

What does Microsoft say?

Microsoft told Dutch broadcaster NOS that it is aware of the demonstration that escalated at the site, AT5 reported. The company said it understands that the project stirs strong feelings and respects the right of people to express their opinion peacefully, but it does not endorse actions that are in breach of the law or that endanger people's safety, according to the statement AT5 published.

At the time of writing, Microsoft had not commented publicly beyond that statement, TNW reported.

The Amsterdam demonstration shows how the physical build-out of AI infrastructure is colliding with local opposition across Europe, even as the companies building data centers argue the capacity is needed for AI training and cloud services. The two days of action this week suggest the pressure on data center operators, and on the municipalities approving their projects, is not going away.

What happens next?

The demonstration in Amsterdam was the first of two days of action planned against data centers in several European countries on November 6 and 7, TNW reported, with the participating groups coordinating protests beyond the Netherlands. AT5 reported that demonstrators at the Sloterdijk site said they would stay, and the outside protest by Fossiel Vrij Nederland was scheduled to continue at least until 14:30 local time.

The project itself remains under construction while the protests proceed. Because the plans were filed before Amsterdam's ban on new data centers, the site is moving ahead even as the city holds its ban in place until 2030, and even as grid officials warn that power shortages threaten new homes and schools, according to TNW.

The standoff in Amsterdam is the latest sign that the companies building AI infrastructure will keep facing organized community opposition in Europe, whatever position municipalities take. The Verge noted that Europe is witnessing a wave of protests against data centers, and this week's actions show the movement is now coordinating across borders.