KIOXIA Unveils 122.88TB LC9 NVMe SSD, Targeting the Next Wave of AI Storage Demands

Key Specs at a Glance

• Capacity: 122.88TB

• Form Factor: 2.5-inch, dual-port

• Interface: PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0, NVMe-MI™

• Endurance: 0.3 DWPD

• NAND Type: 2Tb QLC BiCS FLASH™ Gen 8 with CBA technology

In a significant move underscoring the rapid evolution of storage technology for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, KIOXIA America, Inc. has announced the development of the LC9 Series NVMe SSD—a 122.88 terabyte (TB) enterprise-class drive designed to meet the demanding needs of large-scale AI workloads. The new drive will be showcased at an upcoming industry conference and marks a major milestone in solid-state storage, being the first to feature KIOXIA’s cutting-edge BiCS FLASH™ generation 8 3D flash memory.

As AI models grow larger and data pipelines expand exponentially, storage has emerged as a critical enabler of performance, scalability, and efficiency. KIOXIA’s LC9 Series addresses this need head-on with a massive capacity, NVMe 2.0 support, and PCIe® 5.0 interface, making it a highly suitable solution for generative AI tasks, large language model (LLM) training, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and vector database integration.

Understanding the Tech Behind the LC9 Series

The KIOXIA LC9 SSD is built with QLC (quad-level cell) flash, a type of NAND flash memory that stores four bits per cell, enabling higher density and lower cost per bit compared to traditional TLC (triple-level cell) or MLC (multi-level cell) solutions. The drive integrates the company’s latest 2 terabit (Tb) QLC BiCS FLASH™—a vertically stacked 3D NAND technology—and features CMOS Bonded to Array (CBA) technology for improved signal integrity and performance.

Offering a 2.5-inch form factor with dual-port capability, the drive is not only compact but also highly resilient—providing fault tolerance or enabling simultaneous connectivity to multiple compute systems. This is particularly beneficial in enterprise-grade environments where high availability is crucial.

A Storage Solution Tailored for AI Workflows

AI applications—from natural language processing to computer vision—require vast volumes of data to be read, processed, and written continuously. The 122.88TB LC9 SSD delivers on that need by supporting 0.3 drive writes per day (DWPD), which balances endurance and performance for read-heavy AI workloads. With NVMe 2.0 and PCIe 5.0 compatibility, the drive achieves transfer rates up to 128 gigatransfers per second, significantly reducing latency and accelerating data throughput.

The LC9 also pairs effectively with KIOXIA’s AiSAQ™ technology, designed to optimize RAG by shifting vector database storage from limited DRAM to high-density SSDs. This transition not only cuts costs but also boosts scalability across cloud-native and hybrid environments.

Strategic Industry Relevance

The announcement reflects a broader industry trend: the rising need for storage solutions that can keep pace with AI’s growing appetite for data. Gregory Wong, founder and principal analyst at Forward Insights, emphasizes the critical role of high-capacity drives:

“Advanced storage solutions such as KIOXIA’s LC9 Series 122.88 TB SSD will be critical in supporting the growing computational needs of AI models, enabling greater efficiency and innovation.”

Neville Ichhaporia, SVP and GM of KIOXIA’s SSD business unit, echoed this sentiment, stating that the LC9 Series “can accelerate AI model training, inference, and RAG at scale,” and is engineered to handle the unprecedented data traffic flowing through today’s AI data lakes.

Outlook

With enterprises increasingly turning to AI-driven services and infrastructure, storage innovations like the KIOXIA LC9 Series are poised to play a foundational role. Whether it’s powering the next generation of chatbots, refining real-time recommendation engines, or managing massive unstructured datasets, high-capacity SSDs are becoming just as important as GPUs and CPUs in the AI hardware stack.

The LC9’s debut adds momentum to KIOXIA’s leadership in NAND flash innovation and solidifies its role in the evolving landscape of AI infrastructure.

For data centers, AI labs, and cloud providers planning to modernize their infrastructure, KIOXIA’s LC9 Series SSD offers a powerful step toward high-capacity, AI-ready storage. As these organizations adopt advanced solutions like the LC9, many are also looking to sell SSD units from previous deployments—recovering value, reducing e-waste, and streamlining IT asset disposition (ITAD). The active secondary market for enterprise SSDs continues to support businesses seeking smart, sustainable upgrade paths.