Samsung commits $1b to KKR-led AI infrastructure push

Six affiliates join Helix as founding investors, expanding group’s role across data centers, energy and cooling

Samsung is committing $1 billion to a KKR-led AI infrastructure venture, joining Nvidia and other major investors in a push to build data centers and the power systems needed to run them.

Six affiliates will invest in Helix Digital Infrastructure, the conglomerate said Tuesday. Samsung Electronics will provide $500 million, with Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance contributing the rest.

The deal expands Samsung’s role from supplying AI components to financing and developing infrastructure, as electricity shortages and grid bottlenecks threaten to limit the industry’s growth.

KKR launched Helix in June with more than $10 billion in long-term capital commitments from investors including the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia and US power producer Vistra. Samsung’s affiliates will join as founding investors.

Helix plans to develop hyperscale data centers alongside power generation, transmission and communications networks, helping major cloud operators secure computing capacity and the electricity to support it.

Former Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Adam Selipsky leads the company. Selipsky ran AWS from 2021 to 2024 and became a senior adviser to KKR last September. Helix also has access to about 170 infrastructure professionals at the private equity firm.

Power has emerged as the central constraint to AI expansion, with data center developers competing for grid connections and dependable generation. Helix plans to invest directly in energy infrastructure and work with Vistra, which operates in 18 US states and has a power portfolio of about 50 gigawatts.

Samsung already operates across much of the data center supply chain. Samsung Electronics supplies advanced semiconductors for AI accelerators and, through its FlaktGroup subsidiary, cooling equipment, the company said.

The tech giant acquired FlakGroup last year, a HVAC specialist with a portfolio spanning conventional air cooling and coolant distribution units for liquid-cooled servers. With 14 production sites and sales and service operations across 65 countries, FlaktGroup is positioned to support the rapid capacity additions demanded by hyperscale customers.

Samsung C&T can design and build both data centers and power facilities as an engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Samsung SDS develops and operates data centers and offers GPU capacity as a service, while Samsung SDI supplies uninterruptible power systems and battery backup units.

Samsung said the deal would help turn its strength in components into broader influence over AI systems and infrastructure. The group plans to pursue partnerships with Helix and its investors across chips, cooling, construction, data center operations, power and energy storage.