Protests against artificial intelligence data centres spread across Europe this week, with crowds marching in Dublin and Helsinki and demonstrators entering a Microsoft construction site in Amsterdam. The protests were driven by concern over the electricity and water used by the large server farms that power AI services, and by the scale of new projects planned near cities.
Dublin and Helsinki draw large crowds
About 2,000 people marched in Dublin on 7 November against the growth of data centres in Ireland. The march was one of the largest protests of its kind in the country, and it focused on the share of electricity now used by data centres. Data centres in Ireland used 23 percent of the country's metered electricity in 2025, according to figures cited in reports about the protests. Protesters said that share is too high, and they argued that the power should go to homes and public services instead of server farms. In Helsinki, about 1,300 people marched against data centre projects in Finland. The protest came as Google plans a 13 billion euro investment in Finland, which would add to the data centre capacity in the country. Demonstrators said the projects would raise power prices and put pressure on local supplies.
Amsterdam protest turns tense
In Amsterdam, protesters entered a Microsoft data centre construction site on 6 November. Police detained between 150 and 200 people after the entry, in the most tense of the three protests this week. The Amsterdam action was aimed at the construction of new data centre capacity in the Netherlands. Protesters said the building work should stop, and they argued that the Netherlands already hosts too many large server farms for its size. The detentions did not stop the wider debate. Reports about the Amsterdam protest were shared widely, and the incident became part of a larger conversation about whether European cities should keep approving data centre projects.
Why data centres use so much power
Data centres are the buildings that store the computers behind cloud services and AI tools. They run around the clock, and they need large amounts of electricity to power the servers and to keep them cool. AI work, which involves training and running large models, uses far more power than ordinary computing. As AI use grows, technology companies are building bigger data centres and asking for more power. In Ireland, the growth has been fast enough that data centres now take nearly a quarter of metered electricity. In other countries, the share is smaller but rising. Water is the other concern. Many data centres use water for cooling, and protesters say that adds pressure on local supplies, especially in dry periods. Companies say they are working on designs that use less water, including air cooling, but protesters say the pace of change is too slow.
The companies and governments respond
Google, Microsoft and other large technology companies say their data centres bring jobs and investment, and they say they pay for the power they use. Google has said it will pay for all of the electricity its data centres consume and cover the infrastructure costs driven by its growth. Governments in Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands have welcomed data centre investment in the past, because it brings tax revenue and construction work. The protests put pressure on that approach, and they ask whether the benefits are worth the strain on power and water. The debate is now spreading beyond the three cities. Similar protests have been reported in other parts of Europe, and the question of how much power AI should be allowed to use is becoming a political issue. The protests this week show that the issue has moved from industry reports into street politics.
