Blackout
Big Tech is selling a vision for a future fuelled by ubiquitous artificial intelligence, and Europe’s leaders have bought in wholesale. This investigation lifts the veil of secrecy hanging over Europe's booming data centre industry.
October 2026
Data centres are not hard to miss. As they draw on the same electricity grids, water supplies and land as everyone else, they also need workers to build them at speed. Governments often know what these costs add up to. At the same time, the public does not.
Blackout is Investigate Europe's attempt to close this knowledge gap. While the tech industry has successfully lobbied EU institutions to keep data centres' real costs out of public view, this project aims to shed light on the impact of the massive data centre build out on people and the planet.
Read stories from the series on Investigate Europe and with our media patners internationally.
Blackout is an investigation led and coordinated by Investigate Europe, together with partners including Follow the Money, the Guardian, The Journal Investigates, Le Monde, El Pais, Reporters United, Source Material, Tech Policy Press and others.
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Publications
Data centers : sur les chantiers de construction européens, des travailleurs exploités dans un climat de « terreur »
Le Monde, France
30 October 2026
Electrocutions, disease and no pay: how workers risk exploitation in Europe’s datacentres
The Guardian, UK
30 October 2026
Electrocutions, Intimidation and Wage Theft Haunt Europe’s Data Center Workers
Tech Policy Press , United States
30 October 2026
Data center, il prezzo nascosto del boom: incidenti, topi, cantieri blindati e terrore psicologico sugli operai. «Ci interrogano e pretendono confessioni scritte»
Corriere della Sera, Italy
30 October 2026
Exploatarea românilor care construiesc centrele de date ale Google și Microsoft în Europa: accidente grave, „teroare psihică” și salarii neplătite
Snoop, Romania
30 October 2026
Arbeidsmigranten riskeren hun leven bij de bouw van datacenters, Google en Microsoft profiteren
Follow the Money, Netherlands
30 October 2026
Injuries and unpaid labour rampant at data centres built by Google and Microsoft
Follow the Money, Netherlands
30 October 2026
Der Preis, den Arbeiter für den KI-Boom zahlen
Zeit Online, Germany
30 October 2026
Des eurodéputés demandent la levée du secret sur l’empreinte environnementale des centres de données
Le Monde, France
20 May 2026
MEPs demand EU Commission scrap ‘unlawful’ secrecy on data centres environmental footprint
EUobserver, Belgium
20 May 2026
¿Cuánto consume un centro de datos? Una ley europea a la medida de las grandes tecnológicas impide saberlo
El País, Spain
17 April 2026
How Big Tech wrote secrecy into EU law to hide data centres’ environmental toll
EUobserver, Belgium
17 April 2026
Comment Microsoft et le lobby de la tech ont fait entrer le secret dans le droit de l’UE sur les centres de données
Le Monde, France
17 April 2026
How Big Tech Lobbied the EU to Hide Data Centers' Environmental Toll
Tech Policy Press , United States
17 April 2026
US tech firms successfully lobbied EU to keep datacentre emissions secret
The Guardian, UK
17 April 2026