Six Samsung Affiliates Invest USD 1 Billion in U.S. AI Infrastructure Firm "Helix"

Power, Cooling, Semiconductors, and Finance Combined
Securing Leadership in the Global AI Data Center Ecosystem

Six affiliates of the Samsung Group, including Samsung Electronics, have jointly invested a total of USD 1 billion (approximately KRW 1.3 trillion) in Helix Digital Infrastructure (Helix), an artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company established by global private equity fund manager KKR, moving to secure leadership in the next-generation AI ecosystem.

On September 29, Samsung Electronics announced that the company has decided to invest USD 500 million in Helix, with five other affiliates—Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance—contributing another USD 500 million, making a combined investment of USD 1 billion.

Launched in June, Helix is an AI infrastructure company led by Adam Selipsky, the former CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company's core feature is its end-to-end offering for global hyperscalers, which covers the development and operation of large-scale AI data centers, provision of base and flexible power generation, establishment of power transmission and distribution networks, and construction of fiber-optic communication networks.

Samsung, by joining as a founding investor alongside KKR, Nvidia, U.S. power company Vistra, and the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), has positioned itself as a key player within the global infrastructure ecosystem.

Samsung's strategy is to move beyond the role of a mere component supplier and become a direct operator in building the global infrastructure platform surrounding AI data centers. In particular, to address the critical bottlenecks of 'securing power supply' and 'heat management' in these large-scale, computation-intensive AI data centers, affiliates will organically combine their advanced technological capabilities with Helix's infrastructure business.

In this process, new and emerging AI service models such as GPUaaS, Sovereign AI, and server colocation are expected to generate further synergy. GPUaaS (GPU as a Service) refers to a computational resource sharing service in which one can rent high-end Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) resources as needed through the cloud, without the need for direct purchase.

This investment brings together the unique capabilities of Samsung affiliates. The Device Solutions (DS) division of Samsung Electronics, which leads the semiconductor business, will supply state-of-the-art AI semiconductors; the Device eXperience (DX) division, which oversees the consumer electronics business, will provide cooling distribution units (CDUs) for air and liquid cooling through its data center HVAC specialist subsidiary, Plact Group.

The construction division of Samsung C&T will participate as an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) contractor responsible for the data centers and power plants, while Samsung SDS will support the construction and operation of data centers, supply power usage effectiveness (PUE) optimization technology, and the GPUaaS business. Samsung SDI will supply uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and battery backup units (BBU), which are essential for emergency power backup.

Samsung affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, stated that through this investment, they plan to closely collaborate with Helix and global partners to contribute to the stable supply of AI data centers, while continuously expanding group-level business synergies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.