Samsung to Invest $1 Billion in KKR’s AI Infrastructure Company

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Group companies including Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to invest a combined $1 billion in Helix Digital Infrastructure, a KKR & Co.-backed US company, deepening the South Korean conglomerate's push into the rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence infrastructure market.

Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T Corp., Samsung SDS Co., Samsung SDI Co., Samsung Life Insurance Co. and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. will participate in the investment, according to a statement Tuesday by Samsung.

The investment would give Korea's biggest industrial group a stake in a company spanning several businesses where Samsung already has significant operations, including semiconductors, construction, data centers, cloud computing and finance.

Helix was launched in June by KKR together with the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia Corp. and US power producer Vistra Corp., with more than $10 billion in committed long-term capital. It is led by Adam Selipsky, the former chief executive of Amazon web Services. Nvidia is a strategic partner, while Vistra is Helix's preferred power partner.

Rather than operating simply as another data-center developer, Helix is attempting to secure all the infrastructure needed to bring enormous computing facilities online quickly.