Amsterdam seeks control over data centers to ensure digital autonomy

Alderman Alexander Scholtes is negotiating with owners of six data centers to gain more control over the city's digital infrastructure.

The municipality wants data centers to reserve server space for Amsterdam, Dutch and European public bodies.

Equinix, which is building two of the six licensed centers, refused to change its business model and opposes origin-based prioritization.

Officials also raised the U.S. Cloud Act as a legal risk because it could let Washington demand data held by U.S. companies.