Episode Details

Europe says it needs more data centers to power its AI ambitions, but their rapid expansion is raising questions about energy, water, labor conditions and who gets a say in where they are built. As the European Commission marks European AI Innovation Month, Tech Policy Press Deputy Editor Ramsha Jahangir speaks first with three of the organizers behind this weekend’s protests in 15 European countries: Owen Espley of Global Action Plan (UK), Aurora Gómez of Tu Nube Seca Mi Río (Spain) and Rosi Leonard of Friends of the Earth Ireland, who want a moratorium on new projects.

She then turns to two journalists investigating the industry: Mei-Ling McNamara of Investigate Europe, whose reporting with Tech Policy Press and other media partners exposed labor abuses on construction sites, and Daniel Howden of Lighthouse Reports, which has filed a legal challenge under the Aarhus Convention over EU secrecy about data centers’ environmental costs. Together they ask who gets to shape Europe’s digital future, who pays for it and who holds the industry accountable.