Hundreds arrested at Microsoft data center protest in Amsterdam

Amsterdam police arrested 150 to 200 protesters at a Microsoft data center site on suspicion of trespassing after some members allegedly entered the construction site with violence. Authorities said break-in tools were seized, and some protesters were found with suspected stolen items from the site, while damage and vandalism were reported. The protest is linked to the Stop Dirty Data Centers coalition and its first wave of actions across Europe.

What happened at the site

According to a Facebook post by the authorities, tools designed for breaking into the site were seized from protesters, who were then allowed on their way to protest peacefully. Some members of the group decided to enter the construction site 'with violence' anyway, forcing police to intervene and leading to arrests. The suspects were taken to a cell complex, where it will be decided if they will be detained longer, and police said all suspects will be heard afterward.

The protest continued an action that started last Friday, when protesters breached the Microsoft data center, which was owned by Pure Data Centers. Another group joined the demonstration and broke through fences around the site, leading to the police confrontation, according to the account.

Groups behind the protest

The Dutch publication NOS identified the exact group at the site as Fossielvrij, which opposes the use of fossil fuels in data centers, citing jet engines that Elon Musk installed at xAI's Mississippi data center as an example. The action was supposed to be peaceful, but it appears that another group joined the demonstration and broke through the fences around the site.

The protest is the first of many organized by the Stop Dirty Data Centers coalition across Europe, with actions planned for Amsterdam, Dublin, Warsaw, Denmark, and several other cities across the continent. On its website, the group said: 'Gas prices are going through the roof, and new houses are being postponed because of the overcrowded power grid. Yet tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are building energy-guzzling, hideous data centers.' It added: 'We can take back the power of Big Tech by pressing the pause button now. Give us the opportunity to democratically decide what we do and do not use AI for, so that it is not at the expense of our living environment and everything that makes our lives beautiful. Then we look at how many more data centers are needed.'

Broader opposition to data centers

The protest comes amid the AI data center build-out, which has been facing increased opposition across the United States. A Google data center site in Finland is also in trouble after it cleared out around 1,300 acres worth of forest and trees without an environmental impact assessment, displacing wildlife and leading to a criminal probe on Tuike Finland Oy, the Google subsidiary in charge of the site.

Sources: Tom's Hardware