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As the public backlash to AI data centers continues to escalate, activists are resorting to extreme measures to send home an important message.
The growing concern over environmentally damaging, yet rapidly growing, data centers has become an international phenomenon. In Amsterdam, climate activists affiliated with the group Extinction Rebellion claimed responsibility for some unique vandalism against a Microsoft data center construction project. According to the Register, the protestors filled water balloons with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid, salt, and acrylic paint before hucking them at the facility.
“This acidic mixture attacks concrete, and the hydrogen peroxide causes steel to rust faster,” Extinction Rebellion said in a statement.
What physical impact the balloons had on the data center itself is unknown, but it may be beside the point. Extinction Rebellion often uses nonviolent civil disobedience and direct action to draw attention to climate issues that would otherwise be ignored. Previous actions involved spattering the offices of fossil fuel insurers with foul smelling butyric acid, and using superglue and bicycle locks to barricade the entrance of Lloyd’s, a major insurance market in London.
As targets for climate activism go, data centers are a no-brainer. The facilities underlining the AI boom are a major driver of carbon emissions due to their intense energy demand, and likewise cause major problems with local water supplies.
In the post-action statement, Extinction Rebellion argues that the data center in question is weaponizing a loophole “to circumvent the rules banning so-called ‘hyperscalers,'” and will “consume a gigantic amount of power in an area that already suffers from power shortages.”
In addition to local concerns around electricity usage and climate impacts, Extinction Rebellion connects their action to the data center’s future tenant, Microsoft, which international rights groups argue played an instrumental role in Israel’s destruction of Gaza.
As Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Martijn Dekker said in the post-action statement, “the fight against data centers clearly shows how ordinary people unite against the power of big capital.”
“The climate and ecological crisis cannot be viewed in isolation from Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians or the fight against the destructive effects of AI,” Dekker continued. “These abuses originate from the same few mega-rich, the same large corporations.”
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