KIOXIA launches GP1 SSD for GPU-direct flash storage

On August 3, Japanese memory maker KIOXIA unveiled its first SSD that lets GPUs directly access high-speed flash memory, the KIOXIA GP1, in the US. Built on KIOXIA's XL-FLASH low-latency 3D NAND, it delivers 100M IOPS random read performance, aiming to bring flash into GPU memory systems for new AI architectures. The GP1 series uses second-gen XL-FLASH storage-class memory with 512-byte granularity, supports PCIe Gen6 and NVMe 2.2, comes in EDSFF E3.S and E1.S forms, and offers 50 DWPD endurance. Samples are expected by end of 2026. Neville Ichhaporia, KIOXIA America's SVP, said the GP1 tackles the AI memory bottleneck, providing high-performance, low-latency data access at much lower cost than expanding HBM or DRAM, boosting GPU utilization.