# Kioxia 2026 AI storage expansion and liquid‑cooled SSDs > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/kioxia-2026-japan-initiatives > Updated: 2026-08-06T22:48:10.000Z. Sources: 42. Developments: 10. After supplying high‑performance gaming SSDs for the Aichi‑Nagoya Asian Games in late June, Kioxia accelerated its AI‑focused storage roadmap. In July the company began 10th‑generation 3D NAND production at Kitakami Fab 2, opened a second highly automated fab, and launched the NX1 enterprise SSD with liquid‑cooling, followed by the CM10 PCIe 6.0 SSD family built on 332‑layer BiCS FLASH TLC memory. These products targeted AI inference and key‑value cache workloads and were positioned alongside NVIDIA’s CMX context‑memory solution. Kioxia Europe announced the GP1 Series PCIe 6.0 NVMe SSDs for AI, HPC and analytics, offering up to 10 million random‑read IOPS, up to 50 DWPD endurance, and both air‑ and liquid‑cooled variants in E3.S and E1.S form factors. The same event introduced the XL1 memory‑expansion module, pairing XL‑FLASH Generation 2 with a CXL interface to provide a storage‑class memory tier between DRAM and NAND. Evaluation samples are slated for selected customers by the end of 2026, with broader productisation later in the year. In early August Kioxia unveiled the NX1 series as a PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD with direct liquid‑cooling and an E1.S form factor, delivering up to a 38 % sequential‑read performance gain over the prior generation and already being sampled to hyperscale data‑center customers. The GP1 PCIe 6.0 SSD was further highlighted for GPU‑memory extension, leveraging second‑generation XL‑FLASH NAND. Kioxia also began sampling 1 TB 9th‑generation BiCS FLASH TLC devices featuring a 230‑layer stack and a 33 % faster NAND interface, underscoring the company’s push to meet rising bandwidth, latency, power‑efficiency and security demands of AI, HPC and cloud workloads. ## Claims - Kioxia announced the NX1 Series SSD with direct liquid cooling capability. (corroborated by 3 sources) - The NX1 SSD uses a PCIe Gen 5.0 interface and NVMe 2.0 protocol. (corroborated by 3 sources) - Capacities of the NX1 SSD range from 1.92 TB to 15.36 TB. (corroborated by 3 sources) - The NX1 provides up to 38 % higher sequential write speed and up to 20 % higher random write speed than the prior XD series. (corroborated by 3 sources) - The SSD uses 218‑layer BiCS gen‑8 3D TLC NAND and a Kioxia‑developed controller. (corroborated by 3 sources) - An optional self‑encrypting drive version meets TCG Opal specifications. (corroborated by 3 sources) - Sampling will occur with selected hyperscale customers and the SSD will be demonstrated at the Future of Memory and Storage event in Santa Clara, CA, 4‑6 August 2026. (corroborated by 3 sources) - Kioxia announced the CM10 Series, its first enterprise SSD using PCIe 6.0. (corroborated by 3 sources) - CM10 SSD capacities range from 1.6 TB to 61.44 TB. (corroborated by 3 sources) - CM10 SSDs deliver up to about 92 % higher sequential read performance and up to about 85 % higher random read performance versus the previous CM9 generation. (corroborated by 3 sources) - CM10 SSDs support NVIDIA CMX context‑memory storage solution. (corroborated by 2 sources) - CM10 SSDs offer direct‑cold‑plate liquid cooling in the E3.S and E1.S form factors. (corroborated by 2 sources) ## Timeline ### 2026-08-06: Kioxia GP Series SSD Wins Best of Show Award, Targets AI Workloads with GPU‑Direct PCIe 6.0 Kioxia's GP Series PCIe 6.0 SSD, optimized for GPU direct access and delivering 10 M IOPS, won the FMS Best of Show award and is positioned as a cost‑effective alternative to HBM for AI workloads. 5 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-gp-series-ssd-wins-best-of-show-award-targets-ai-workloads-with-gpudirect-pcie-60 ### 2026-08-04: KIOXIA unveils liquid‑cooled AI SSD as data‑center storage race heats up KIOXIA launched a liquid‑cooled PCIe 5.0 AI SSD, while Microchip‑Micron unveiled a PCIe 6.0 storage architecture and KIOXIA’s GP1 SSD promises 10 M IOPS; Marvell also announced a PCIe 6.0 controller, all to cut 9 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/microchip-and-micron-unveil-pcie-gen-6-storage-architecture-for-ai-data-centers ### 2026-08-02: Kioxia unveils PCIe 6.0 CM10 enterprise SSD with 10th‑gen BiCS flash Kioxia unveiled the PCIe 6.0 CM10 enterprise SSD built on its 10th‑gen BiCS FLASH 332‑layer NAND, offering up to 92% faster sequential reads and AI‑focused features, and announced mass production of BiCS 10 to挑 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-unveils-pcie-60-cm10-enterprise-ssd-with-10thgen-bics-flash ### 2026-07-31: Kioxia launches CM10 PCIe 6.0 enterprise SSD series for AI workloads Kioxia introduced its first PCIe 6.0 enterprise SSD line, the CM10 series, offering up to 61 TB capacity and 92 % faster reads for AI workloads, and also announced UFS 5.0 flash modules for AI‑enabled devices. 8 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-launches-pcie-60-cm10-enterprise-ssds-up-to-61-tb-for-ai-data-centers ### 2026-07-30: Kioxia reports AI‑driven earnings surge as Amotech raises funds for MLCC expansion Kioxia posted a 1.27 trillion‑yen operating profit in Q1, driven by AI data‑center storage demand, while Amotech raised 206 billion won to expand MLCC production for AI servers. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-reports-aidriven-earnings-surge-as-amotech-raises-funds-for-mlcc-expansion ### 2026-07-28: Kioxia launches NX1 liquid‑cooled PCIe 5 SSD for AI data centers Kioxia's NX1 SSD, the first liquid‑cooled PCIe 5 drive for AI servers, offers up to 38 % faster writes, capacities up to 15.36 TB, and will be demoed at the Aug 2026 FMS event in the US. 10 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-launches-first-liquidcooled-pcie-gen-5-ssd-for-ai-data-centers ### 2026-07-27: Japan's Kioxia Accelerates Capex Amid AI-Driven Demand Surge Kioxia plans a major capex increase to meet AI‑driven storage demand, urging proof of sustainable growth beyond a temporary supply boost. 3 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/japans-kioxia-accelerates-capex-amid-ai-driven-demand-surge ### 2026-07-15: Kioxia expands with new Kitakami fab as AI drives flash memory boom Kioxia opened a new Kitakami fab to meet AI‑driven flash memory demand, seeing a seven‑fold share rise and planning a US listing amid competition from China’s YMTC. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-expands-with-new-kitakami-fab-as-ai-drives-flash-memory-boom ### 2026-07-03: Kioxia and SanDisk Begin 10th‑Gen 3D Flash Memory Production at Kitakami Plant in Japan Kioxia and SanDisk have started producing 10th‑generation 3D NAND flash memory at the Fab2 facility in Kitakami, Japan, using AI‑enhanced, earthquake‑resistant equipment as part of a joint venture extended to 2 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-and-sandisk-begin-10thgen-3d-flash-memory-production-at-kitakami-plant-in-japan ### 2026-06-24: Kioxia to Supply Official Gaming SSDs for 2026 Asian Games in Japan Kioxia signed a Tier‑4 partnership to provide its EXCERIA PRO G2 SSD as the official gaming storage for the 2026 Asian Games and Para Games in Japan. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/kioxia-to-supply-official-gaming-ssds-for-2026-asian-games-in-japan --- Cite as: Kioxia 2026 AI storage expansion and liquid‑cooled SSDs. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/kioxia-2026-japan-initiatives