Backlash Against Data Centers Grows. Protesters Broke Into a Microsoft Construction Site.

Activists broke into the construction site of a Microsoft data center in Amsterdam on Friday as backlash against the AI buildout grows among some sectors of society.

The incident took place in the context of broader actions announced by a coalition called “Stop Dirty Data Centers,” which calls for a pause of large-scale construction. There were 16 protests planned for Friday and Saturday across 16 countries. The group said it’s not against the buildout but wants construction to be halted until clear rules can be set.

Pure Data Centres, which owns the site and is set to invest over $1 billion in the project, said it asked “those on site to leave safely and engage ​with us in dialogue about the development and any concerns they may have.”

Microsoft, on its end, said it understood people’s concerns about the buildout but did not condone unlawful activities. The company has already pulled out of a project in the UK that was met with delays.

The buildout also saw a potential setback after the Democrats’ resounding victory on Tuesday’s midterms, as candidates who have called for curbs won several elections.

The most high-profile win was that of Gina Hinojosa, who beat Greg Abbott to become Texas’ next governor. She campaigned on pausing new approvals until Texas enacts stronger protections for local communities.

The scale of the buildout makes even a temporary pause consequential. Texas has nearly three times as much proposed data center capacity as Virginia, the next closest state. Hinojosa can make appointments to state commissions and call special legislative sessions. Changes to tax exemptions or new statutory protections would require lawmakers’ support, and Republicans are expected to retain their state Senate majority.

Yagiz Sullu, founder and lead analyst of Sullu Strategic Advisory, told IBT that Democrats have an opening to revisit tax exemptions and “make investors shoulder the costs associated with data center electricity demand.”

“Texas provides data centers with more than $1 billion in tax breaks each year, and the growing development of these centers raises concerns about meeting their electricity demand,” Sullu said. The debate could determine who pays for substations, transmission lines and other grid upgrades.

Josephine Liu, Chief Policy Commissioner at the International Academy of Artificial Intelligence Sciences, also told IBT that “While a six-month delay may be manageable for companies like Microsoft or Google, it could prove extremely expensive for highly leveraged developers paying interest before generating revenue,” Josephine Liu said.

Higher infrastructure costs, tighter water requirements, or smaller tax breaks could erode expected returns on projects still on paper. “Texas may lose some speculative projects without losing its position as a major AI infrastructure hub,” Liu said. She pointed to the state’s natural gas, renewable energy and available land as lasting advantages.

OpenAI has already began adapting. It has promised to pay the full electricity costs of its future company-owned data centers, stop using most nondisclosure agreements with public officials and give local communities a greater say in how the facilities are built.

The company also wants federal, state and local governments to introduce similar requirements for the wider industry, which has been facing growing opposition over electricity bills, water consumption and the sheer scale of new AI infrastructure projects.