Six Samsung companies are committing a combined $1 billion to Helix Digital Infrastructure, a company the investment firm KKR set up in June 2026 to build the data centers that AI runs on, along with the power plants, power lines and fiber-optic networks those buildings need. Samsung Electronics is investing $500 million, and Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance are putting in the rest. Helix and KKR announced the deal on Sept. 28. It adds to more than $10 billion that Helix's founding investors, including KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, NVIDIA and the U.S. power company Vistra, committed at its launch.
The deal turns on electricity. Samsung calls the supply of power "the greatest bottleneck in AI infrastructure," and says Helix plans to lock up energy through its own investments and through deals with large energy developers, including Vistra. AI data centers run powerful computers 24 hours a day, so they need a steady supply of electricity. Helix is selling to the biggest cloud companies, which the industry calls hyperscalers, and its pitch is that they can get the building, the power and the network connections from one company.
As an investor, Samsung will share in Helix's returns and may get priority or a first look at selling it goods and services, KKR says. Samsung says its affiliates already make much of what an AI data center needs: chips from Samsung Electronics, cooling equipment from FläktGroup, a company it bought in 2025, construction from Samsung C&T, backup batteries and power supplies from Samsung SDI, and data center design and operation from Samsung SDS. Helix says it expects to explore using Samsung's strengths in construction, energy storage and cooling. Samsung says it wants to grow from a parts supplier into a company that helps shape how AI infrastructure is built.
Helix is run by Adam Selipsky, the former chief executive of Amazon Web Services. He called Samsung's money "a strong vote of confidence in Helix's strategy." Helix says it plans to invest in North America and elsewhere.
The companies have not said what share of Helix the $1 billion buys, where Helix will build first, which cloud companies have signed on as customers, or when the money will be spent.