Protesters broke into a construction site for a new Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam on Friday, with some climbing a crane and setting off flares, while others clashed with police amid growing opposition to large-scale data centre projects across Europe.
Nathan Timmer of the protest group Geef Tegengas, meaning Push Back, told local broadcaster AT5 that demonstrators had occupied the site to prevent construction from continuing.
Activists across Europe planned demonstrations and other actions on Friday and Saturday, demanding a halt to large-scale data centre developments over concerns about their environmental and social impacts, particularly their heavy consumption of electricity and water.
"We don't want it to be built. Nobody needs it," Timmer said, arguing that the facilities would support artificial intelligence, surveillance and warfare.
Pro-Palestinian activists also joined the demonstration in Amsterdam. Police began removing protesters from the site by late afternoon, although some remained. Dutch police said they detained between 150 and 200 people on suspicion of trespassing.
Microsoft acknowledged the demonstration and said it respected people's right to peaceful protest but opposed unlawful activities that endangered public safety.
The Amsterdam protest was part of the "Stop Dirty Data Centres" campaign, involving dozens of grassroots and civil society organisations in 15 European countries, including Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.
Owen Espley, coordinator of StopDirtyDataCentres.eu, said there was a growing disconnect between political leaders promoting artificial intelligence and public concerns about its expansion.
In Germany, around a dozen protesters gathered outside a data centre near Berlin, calling for an end to construction without proper consideration of environmental consequences.
In Poland, approximately 100 people demonstrated outside parliament in Warsaw, representing communities where new data centres are planned.
Italy has also witnessed growing opposition, particularly in the northern Lombardy region, a major hub for digital infrastructure. Activists say the rapid expansion of facilities supporting cloud computing and artificial intelligence is outpacing public consultation and environmental oversight.
On October 10, more than 1,000 people and representatives of around 40 local committees gathered at Milan's Piazza della Scala for what organisers described as Italy's first national demonstration against data centres.
They demanded a moratorium on new projects and a national strategy to regulate the industry's expansion, following a series of increasingly large protests in towns surrounding Milan.
According to PwC's Global Data Centre Outlook 2026–50, Europe is projected to attract $5.6 trillion in cumulative data centre investment between 2026 and 2050, representing about 18% of global spending. The United States is expected to attract $15.1 trillion during the same period.