Kuwait joins AI infrastructure race with $10B venture

Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund is joining a $10 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure venture alongside KKR, Nvidia, and power company Vistra, the partners announced June 11, 2026. The new company, Helix Digital Infrastructure, will be led by former Amazon Web Services chief Adam Selipsky and is designed to build and finance data centers, power generation plants, transmission networks and fiber links for hyperscalers.

"Helix Digital Infrastructure aims to build and finance the data centers, power generation plants, transmission networks, and fiber links needed by hyperscalers," the announcement said.

The deal signals a major push by Gulf capital into the global AI supply chain. Helix will combine private equity and technology backing from KKR and Nvidia with energy and operations expertise from Vistra, and strategic funding from Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund. Adam Selipsky, who previously ran Amazon’s cloud business, has been named chief executive to steer the firm’s deployment of capital and development of physical infrastructure supporting large-scale AI workloads.

Partners, scope and strategy

• Lead investors and partners: Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, KKR, Nvidia, Vistra
• Target capital: $10 billion
• Company: Helix Digital Infrastructure
• Leadership: Adam Selipsky, CEO (former AWS chief)
• Primary assets: data centers, power generation, transmission networks, fiber links

The venture focuses on the elements hyperscalers increasingly require: high-density compute locations located near reliable, low-cost power, dedicated transmission and fiber connectivity, and purpose-built facilities for AI hardware. Combining capital from a sovereign wealth fund with private-equity and industry technology partners aims to address both financing scale and technical coordination — from siting and permitting to power dispatch and network interconnection.

Regional context underscores why Gulf investors have accelerated such investments. The announcement comes amid a wave of state-backed and private efforts in the Middle East targeting AI and cloud infrastructure. Saudi Arabia launched a project named HUMAIN last year intended to establish a national AI champion; Qatar has developed a national effort called Qai; and the United Arab Emirates has backed firms including G42, MGX and Mubadala to expand AI and digital capabilities.

Industry participants say the partnership model for Helix, pairing sovereign capital with established private-sector operators and a hardware leader, is intended to shorten delivery timelines for large projects while mitigating execution risk. KKR brings global infrastructure deal-making experience, Nvidia adds key relationships with AI hardware and software ecosystems, and Vistra contributes power-generation and operational know-how.

Looking ahead, Helix faces several immediate priorities: securing sites with sufficient grid capacity, obtaining regulatory approvals, negotiating long-term power purchase agreements, and lining up fiber and transmission buildouts to match the rapid growth in demand for AI compute. If executed at scale, the $10 billion vehicle could provide a template for how Gulf capital supports the physical backbone of AI globally — from power plants to the fiber that links data centers — while offering hyperscalers another avenue to secure dedicated infrastructure tailored to next-generation workloads.