Samsung units to put $1 billion into KKR-backed Helix Digital Infrastructure
Six Samsung affiliates are joining a data centre and power infrastructure venture built by KKR alongside NVIDIA and the Kuwait Investment Authority
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Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance plan to invest a combined $1 billion in Helix Digital Infrastructure, an AI infrastructure company built by KKR, according to Samsung's Global Newsroom.
Helix, launched in June 2026 and led by former Amazon Web Services chief executive Adam Selipsky, builds and operates hyperscale data centres, power generation and transmission assets, and fibre-optic networks. Samsung's commitment is made through the venture's long-duration capital fund and adds to more than $10 billion already pledged by founding investors including KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, NVIDIA and Vistra, according to a joint announcement from Helix and KKR. Those investors, along with Samsung, will share in returns Helix generates and get priority or first-look rights to supply goods or services to its projects, the announcement said. The Wall Street Journal reported, in a summary carried by ChainCatcher, that the deal takes Helix's total committed capital past $11 billion. Crypto Briefing reported that Samsung Electronics is putting up $500 million of the total with the other five affiliates covering the rest, a split not confirmed in either company's own statements. Waldemar Szlezak, who joined Helix from KKR's infrastructure team, serves as its chief investment officer, Crypto Briefing reported.
The investment follows Samsung's stake in Mistral AI and an expanded lithography agreement with ASML, both disclosed on September 8, extending a pattern of Samsung spreading its bets across the AI infrastructure stack rather than confining itself to memory chips and foundry work. Set against Samsung's balance sheet, $1 billion is a modest sum that does not alter its near-term earnings outlook. But it reinforces the case that the company still sees durable AI capital spending ahead, coming weeks after memory chipmakers were hit by concerns over AI demand. The deal also feeds into a broader run of dealmaking by KKR across sectors this year. For investors, the move reads as a strategic hedge rather than a catalyst for the stock, though it pushes back, in a small way, against the bearish mood that set in during the mid-September selloff.