NVIDIA and SK hynix to introduce 'AI SSD' with 10x more performance in middle of DRAM crisis

NVIDIA and SK hynix are co-developing an 'AI SSD' using NAND chips called 'Storage Next' that could revolutionize the NAND market with 10x more perf.

NVIDIA and SK hynix to introduce 'AI SSD' with 10x more performance in middle of DRAM crisis
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Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: NVIDIA and SK hynix are developing a next-gen AI SSD, "Storage Next," promising 10x performance improvements and up to 100 million IOPS to address AI inferencing demands amid a severe DRAM shortage. This advanced NAND-based solution aims to optimize AI workloads with enhanced throughput and energy efficiency by 2026.

NVIDIA has teamed with SK hynix on a next-gen ultra-powerful SSD solution for AI inferencing, that could offer 10x the performance for AI inferencing in the middle of the worst DRAM crisis ever.

NVIDIA and SK hynix to introduce 'AI SSD' with 10x more performance in middle of DRAM crisis 22
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SK hynix has formalized development of the next-gen SSD with NVIDIA, after the South Korean memory giant enjoyed great results from supplying HBM to NVIDIA for its AI GPUs, and its customer- and service-tailored product development is expanding into the NAND flash sector.

In a new report from Korean outlet Chosun, SK hynix Vice President Kim Cheon-seong said at the recent "2025 Artificial Intelligence Semiconductor Future Technology Conference" (AISFC) that SK hynix was developing a new SSD with 10x more performance with NVIDIA. This new SSD is dubbed "Storage Next" for NVIDIA and "AN-N P" (AI NAND performance) for SK hynix, a new proof of concept that is in the works with the goal of releasing a prototype before the end of 2026.

SK hynix hopes to have its next-gen AI SSD scaling up to a gigantic 100 million IOPS, which is leagues beyond what traditional enterprise SSDs can do. The reason the industry is pushing towards this new "Storage Next" technology is that current AI workload structures require continuous access to massive model parameters, which can't be accommodated by HBM or general purpose DRAM-based products. The AI SSD of the future would allow for a pseudo-memory later, optimized perfectly for AI workloads.

This presents another issue of its own, as the collaboration between NVIDIA and SK hynix having a singular goal of enhancing throughput and energy efficiency through using advanced NAND and controller architectures. NAND supply is already under enough pressure from demand through CSPs (cloud service providers) and AI companies, so an AI SSD solution could become mainstream... and if it does... we'll see another DRAM-style situation in the NAND flash market.