News from the IT community on November 7th: According to a latest blog post by Reuters, on November 6th local time in the Netherlands, over a hundred activists gathered and broke into a construction site for Microsoft's data center, protesting against the AI infrastructure expansion.

Reports say that more than a hundred activists gathered at the site, then entered the construction area. Some climbed onto cranes, hung balloons, and displayed protest slogans. The protesters mainly focused on the power and water consumption, as well as the environmental impact of large data centers, and demanded a pause on large-scale new construction projects. The organizer “Stop Dirty Data Centres” stated that environmental protection and digital rights groups plan to carry out actions in 16 countries from November 6th to 7th, with the demonstration in Amsterdam being part of this effort.

The owner of the project site, Pure Data Centres, plans to invest over 1 billion US dollars (Note from IT: The current exchange rate is approximately 6.686 billion RMB). The company stated its willingness to communicate with local stakeholders and called for the safe evacuation of those entering the construction site, expressing their concerns through dialogue. Microsoft responded by stating that it respects the public's right to express opinions peacefully, but does not acknowledge illegal activities.

The incident subsequently escalated to the police clearing the area. According to a report by DPA that evening, Dutch police stated that they had arrested 150 to 200 demonstrators suspected of illegal intrusion.