Samsung and affiliates to invest $1 billion in AI infrastructure firm Helix

Samsung Electronics and its affiliates will invest a combined $1 billion in Helix Digital Infrastructure, an artificial intelligence infrastructure company launched by global investment firm KKR and backed by AI darling Nvidia.

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will invest $500 million, with Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance contributing the remainder.

The investment comes as Helix seeks to address growing competition in the AI infrastructure market by targeting both data center deployment and the underlying power infrastructure needed to support it.

The deal also allows Samsung to leverage capabilities across its affiliates, spanning semiconductors and cooling systems to data center construction and batteries, as the group seeks to expand its role in the global AI infrastructure buildout.

Helix, launched in June, focuses on infrastructure needed to support growing AI demand, including hyperscale data centers, power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure and fiber-optic networks.

The company is led by Adam Selipsky, the former CEO of Amazon Web Services. KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia and U.S. power company Vistra are founding investors in Helix.

The latest investment is in addition to the more than $10 billion of funds already committed to the company, according to KKR.

Samsung said the investment would help accelerate the global rollout of AI data centers alongside Helix and deepen collaboration among the participating companies.

KKR has invested more than $75 billion globally across digital infrastructure and power, with the investment firm putting in about $9 billion in Korea since 2009.

—CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.