KKR Backs $10B Helix Digital Infrastructure to Build AI's Physical Backbone

Private equity giant KKR has unveiled Helix Digital Infrastructure, a new AI infrastructure company launched with more than $10 billion in committed capital. Announced on April 30, 2026, Helix is designed to address what KKR sees as the most pressing bottleneck in artificial intelligence today: not chips or models, but the physical foundation needed to power them.

Adam Selipsky, the former CEO of Amazon Web Services, will lead the company as chief executive and chair. During his tenure at AWS, the business doubled in size and pushed past $100 billion in annual revenue, giving him direct experience with the kind of hyperscale operations Helix intends to support. He has spent recent months as a senior adviser to KKR, helping shape the strategy and team behind the new venture.

Helix will operate as a full-stack infrastructure partner, building and running data centers along with the surrounding power generation, transmission, networking, and cooling systems. The model lets hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offload buildout costs through long-term capacity contracts, taking pressure off their balance sheets while accelerating deployment in markets where permitting and grid constraints have stalled growth.

The launch arrives as the four largest U.S. cloud providers project roughly $700 billion in combined annual infrastructure spending, with demand still outstripping supply. Analysts now expect AI infrastructure investment to surpass $1 trillion by 2030. Helix has already secured commitments from sovereign wealth funds and additional strategic partners on top of its initial $10 billion, with more fundraising planned to scale projects through co-investment.

The launch reflects a broader shift in how investors are approaching the AI boom. Rather than chasing model builders or chip designers, capital is increasingly flowing toward the utility-style assets that will earn long-term returns regardless of which AI labs ultimately win the race, mirroring the way pipelines became core infrastructure for the energy industry decades ago.