A major shift in AI memory architecture is underway, promising faster data access and smarter GPU performance.
Kioxia Corporation has announced a new SSD designed specifically for next-generation AI and high-performance computing workloads. The newly introduced KIOXIA GP Series, described as a “Super High IOPS SSD”, is engineered to allow GPUs to directly access high-speed flash memory. This innovation effectively expands GPU memory beyond traditional High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), enabling faster data processing and improved efficiency in AI systems.
The development aligns with NVIDIA Corporation’s Storage-Next initiative, which addresses the industry’s shift from compute-heavy to data-intensive workloads. As AI models grow in size and complexity, reaching trillions of parameters and requiring massive context windows, the need for larger, faster, and more accessible memory becomes critical. By enabling GPUs to access flash storage directly, the GP Series helps reduce latency and enhances overall system performance.
Built using Kioxia’s XL-FLASH storage-class memory, the GP Series delivers significantly higher input/output operations per second (IOPS), lower latency, and improved power efficiency compared to conventional TLC-based SSDs. It also supports fine-grained data access down to 512 bytes, making it particularly well-suited for AI workloads that demand rapid and precise data retrieval.
In addition to the GP Series, Kioxia highlighted its CM9 Series PCIe 5.0 E3.S SSD, which offers up to 25.6 TB of capacity and 3 drive writes per day (DWPD) endurance. This solution is designed to support large-scale AI inference environments, where expanding key-value (KV) cache memory is essential for maintaining performance. Technologies like NVIDIA’s Context Memory Storage (CMX) further emphasize the importance of extending memory hierarchies beyond GPU memory.
Evaluation samples of the GP Series are expected to be available to select customers by late 2026, while CM9 Series samples are scheduled to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2026. Kioxia also plans to showcase its new SSD technology at NVIDIA GTC, underscoring its commitment to advancing AI storage infrastructure through innovation and collaboration.
