TECH NEWS – Nvidia and SK Hynix are reportedly working on a new SSD designed specifically for AI workloads. If the project materializes, it could reshape the NAND market while further intensifying existing supply shortages.

As AI development continues to shift from training toward inference, the underlying hardware stack is being rethought to deliver lower latency and higher throughput. One clear sign of this transition is Nvidia’s decision to integrate general-purpose GDDR7 memory into its Rubin CPX GPU for preloading tasks.

According to Chosun Biz, a similar philosophy may soon apply to NAND flash. Reports suggest that Nvidia and SK Hynix are collaborating on an internal project dubbed “Storage Next,” aimed at developing a new class of SSD optimized specifically for AI workflows, with the potential to disrupt the entire NAND segment.

SK Hynix is said to be targeting the end of next year for a prototype reveal. The proposed AI SSD could reportedly scale up to 100 million IOPS, vastly outperforming conventional enterprise SSDs. Such performance would address a critical bottleneck in modern AI workloads, which require constant, high-speed access to massive model parameters—something neither HBM nor general-purpose DRAM can efficiently provide.

The AI SSD would effectively function as a pseudo-memory layer tailored for AI tasks, bridging the gap between storage and memory. Through advanced NAND and controller architectures, Nvidia and SK Hynix aim to improve both throughput and energy efficiency.

While the concept is ambitious, it also raises concerns. NAND supply chains are already under heavy strain due to the explosive storage demands of AI companies. If AI-focused SSDs become mainstream, the NAND market could face a scenario similar to what has already unfolded with DRAM, where demand far outpaces supply.

Supporting AI workloads increasingly comes at a high cost, disrupting established supply chains and leaving little time for consumers and suppliers to adapt. DRAM contract prices are already weakening, and signs indicate that NAND flash may soon follow, potentially pushing even more components into luxury territory.

Source: WCCFTech, Chosun Biz