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Samsung Affiliates Invest $1B in KKR-Backed Helix to Build AI Data Centers and Power Infrastructure

By: IDCNOVARegion: North America
Six Samsung affiliates have agreed to invest a combined $1 billion (approximately 1.36 trillion won) in Helix Digital Infrastructure, an AI infrastructure corporation established by U.S. investment firm KKR, in a move that underscores the growing convergence of semiconductor manufacturing, data center construction, and power infrastructure in the AI era.

The six affiliates — Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance — will join as founding investors in Helix alongside KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia, and U.S. power company Vistra. The deal positions the Samsung group to participate directly in the development of hyperscale AI data centers and the power generation and transmission infrastructure required to operate them.

Helix, whose launch KKR announced in June, is designed to integrate and build the full stack of infrastructure needed to run AI services — from developing and operating hyperscale data centers to power generation, transmission and distribution facilities, as well as optical communication networks. The company is led by Adam Selipsky, former chief executive officer of Amazon Web Services, and has assembled a management team of data center and power experts, drawing on approximately 170 of KKR's infrastructure specialists.

The strategic rationale behind the investment lies in the unique power demands of AI workloads. AI data centers must run large numbers of graphics processing units, making it critical to secure massive amounts of reliable power. Helix's strategy targets not only data centers but also the power generation and transmission infrastructure that sustains them, securing data centers and electricity together — an approach that reflects a broader industry shift toward vertically integrated AI infrastructure.

Each Samsung affiliate brings distinct capabilities to the partnership. Samsung Electronics' device solutions division supplies the semiconductors needed for AI data centers, while its device experience division provides cooling solutions ranging from air-cooling products to liquid-cooling distribution units through FläktGroup, a data center HVAC specialist acquired last year that operates 14 production bases worldwide and a supply and service network spanning 65 countries. Samsung C&T's construction division can take on engineering, procurement and construction for data centers and power generation facilities. Samsung SDS is engaged in data center design, build and operations, as well as GPU-as-a-service, and holds technology related to power usage effectiveness. Samsung SDI can supply batteries for uninterruptible power supplies and battery backup units that keep servers running when a data center's power supply is cut.

Samsung plans to use the investment to expand business opportunities across its affiliates within the AI data center ecosystem. The business scope of AI data centers is broadening beyond colocation, which rents out server space, to GPU-as-a-service, which provides GPUs in a cloud format, and sovereign AI, in which nations and corporations build their own AI infrastructure. Vistra is also expected to collaborate on securing power for Helix.