Protesters let off flares at the data center construction site.
Yanis Deplazes / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images
Protesters have broken into a Microsoft Amsterdam data center construction site and unfurled anti-AI banners.
The activist group Geef Tegengas said it had organized the protest.
The protest highlights that the rising backlash against data centers isn’t just a US issue.
Protesters broke into a Microsoft data center construction site on the outskirts of Amsterdam on Friday during an anti-AI demonstration.
Images on social media show activists scaling fences and congregating inside the construction site. Some of them climbed a crane, unfurled a banner with an anti-AI message, and let off flares.
Geef Tegengas, a Dutch activist collective, said on social media that it organized the action and that hundreds of its supporters were blocking construction of the site.
Protesters climbed the fence of a Microsoft data center construction site in Amsterdam.
Koen Van WEEL / ANP / AFP via Getty Images
“We won’t accept Amsterdam being used for the creation of AI slop and the facilitation of genocide,” said Geef Tegengas spokesperson Roos Molenaar in a statement. “This data center is gulping up our drinking water to make the rich even richer.”
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Protesters climbed a crane and attached a banner with an anti-AI message.
Koen Van WEEL / ANP / AFP via Getty Images
The protests are the latest example of backlash against data centers, the machines that have become a symbol for people’s fears of AI and concerns over its environmental impact. They were a key issue in the US midterm elections and widely rejected at the ballot box over concerns about power bills, water use and other impacts on local communities .
In its statement, Geef Tegengas said the Microsoft project would strain the power grid during a housing shortage and give the tech company more control over data and the flow of information.
Protesters at a Microsoft data center site in Amsterdam.
Koen Van WEEL / ANP / AFP via Getty Images
The group also objects to what it describes as the use of Microsoft’s technology for surveillance and military operations.
A video posted on X by Dutch journalist Tom Olthof shows people hanging banners opposing the project, while a separate demonstration is held across the road.
Situatie nu: activisten hebben het terrein betreden en hangen doeken met teksten tegen Microsoft op. Aan de overkant is een demonstratie om de actie te steunen. Politie vreest voor vernielingen op het bouwterrein middels chemicaliën. Op dit moment wordt er niet ontruimd. pic.twitter.com/f5GxlmP6bw
— Tom Olthof (@olthof_tom) November 6, 2026
Police feared possible damage to the construction site from chemical use, Olthof said in the caption.
The Amsterdam site was also targeted in June by Geef Tegengas activists, temporarily halting work.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Read the original article on Business Insider
