Climate Rioters Storm Microsoft Data Center Site In Amsterdam, Chant "Free Palestine" & "F**k AI"

Far-left climate activists broke into the construction site of a new Microsoft data center in Amsterdam earlier this morning. The breach is a troubling sign that far-left social unrest across the West is far from over. 

Geef Tegengas, a Dutch direct-action collective that began targeting fossil gas infrastructure in 2024, led the breach at the Amsterdam data center construction site. The action comes as this year's energy crisis exposes a key vulnerability in Europe's transition away from fossil fuels: demand for natural gas persists, leaving households and industry exposed to supply disruptions and price spikes.

Around 100 Geef Tegengas comrades entered the construction site, Reuters reported. Some carried signs reading "f*ck AI" and "Microsoft powers genocide." Protesters also chanted "Microsoft has got to go" and "free Palestine."

So who funds Geef Tegengas? Dutch news coverage of the group's 2024 launch identified Patagonia, the Climate Emergency Fund, Fossielvrij NL and Stichting Vrienden van XR as co-funders. Fossielvrij NL launched the movement. Who financed this morning's protest remains unclear.

Patagonia Action Works links Geef Tegengas.

The backlash against data centers across the West is particularly troubling given the Trump administration's plans to expand the US power grid, rebuild the industrial base, and accelerate economic growth to escape the country's debt trap. Yet the Democrats in the US, who have joined forces with socialists and socialist reformists, are attempting to derail the buildout and pop the investment cycle. 

In Amsterdam, far-left activists had their list of causes, protesting both the environmental cost of data centers and Microsoft's ties to Israel. That raises a broader question: Who stands to benefit if the West fails to build data centers and power plants it needs to revitalize a hallowed-out industrial base? 

Well, that question also surfaced in the US earlier this summer, when a report alleged that a China-linked NGO was amplifying opposition to data centers ahead of the midterm elections. By Election Day, data centers had become the top concern for many voters.