Climate protesters gathered outside the offices of major tech companies including OpenAI, Google and Amazon during New York's climate week, holding demonstrations against AI datacentres and their environmental impact. The protests reflect growing public concern about tech companies' practices and represent a significant shift in focus from AI safety anxieties to environmental and economic harms, coming as trust in big tech reaches an all-time low and communities nationwide increasingly oppose datacenter development.

From 2024 to 2026, community organising has blocked at least $64bn in proposed datacenter buildouts, with at least 18 states passing bans at local or county level and New York implementing a statewide moratorium this summer. Protesters highlight that datacentres require vast amounts of water and energy, typically powered by fossil fuels, bringing pollution to local communities; they argue that tech companies' pursuit of profit—rather than AI itself—poses the real threat to the environment and the economy, particularly affecting working people who may face the consequences of an AI-driven economic bubble.