diff --git a/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml b/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml
index 92a1bcada387..53b5b23db3c2 100644
--- a/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml
+++ b/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml
@@ -1,21 +1,24 @@
 steps:
-  # aarch64 + CUDA builds
-  - label: "Build arm64 wheel - CUDA 12.8"
-    id: build-wheel-arm64-cuda-12-8
+  # aarch64 + CUDA builds. PyTorch 2.8 aarch64 + CUDA wheel is only available on CUDA 12.9
+  - label: "Build arm64 wheel - CUDA 12.9"
+    id: build-wheel-arm64-cuda-12-9
     agents:
       queue: arm64_cpu_queue_postmerge
     commands:
       # #NOTE: torch_cuda_arch_list is derived from upstream PyTorch build files here:
       # https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch/blob/main/.ci/aarch64_linux/aarch64_ci_build.sh#L7
-      - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.8.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --tag vllm-ci:build-image --target build --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+      - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --tag vllm-ci:build-image --target build --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
       - "mkdir artifacts"
       - "docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/artifacts:/artifacts_host vllm-ci:build-image bash -c 'cp -r dist /artifacts_host && chmod -R a+rw /artifacts_host'"
       - "bash .buildkite/scripts/upload-wheels.sh"
     env:
       DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
 
-  # x86 + CUDA builds
+  - block: "Build CUDA 12.8 wheel"
+    key: block-build-cu128-wheel
+
   - label: "Build wheel - CUDA 12.8"
+    depends_on: block-build-cu128-wheel
     id: build-wheel-cuda-12-8
     agents:
       queue: cpu_queue_postmerge
@@ -44,18 +47,14 @@ steps:
     env:
       DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
 
-  # Note(simon): We can always build CUDA 11.8 wheel to ensure the build is working.
-  # However, this block can be uncommented to save some compute hours.
-  # - block: "Build CUDA 11.8 wheel"
-  #   key: block-build-cu118-wheel
-
-  - label: "Build wheel - CUDA 11.8"
-    # depends_on: block-build-cu118-wheel
-    id: build-wheel-cuda-11-8
+  # x86 + CUDA builds
+  - label: "Build wheel - CUDA 12.9"
+    depends_on: ~
+    id: build-wheel-cuda-12-9
     agents:
       queue: cpu_queue_postmerge
     commands:
-      - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=11.8.0 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='7.0 7.5 8.0 8.9 9.0+PTX' --tag vllm-ci:build-image --target build --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+      - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='7.0 7.5 8.0 8.9 9.0+PTX' --tag vllm-ci:build-image --target build --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
       - "mkdir artifacts"
       - "docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/artifacts:/artifacts_host vllm-ci:build-image bash -c 'cp -r dist /artifacts_host && chmod -R a+rw /artifacts_host'"
       - "bash .buildkite/scripts/upload-wheels.sh"
@@ -75,6 +74,7 @@ steps:
       - "docker tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
       - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT"
 
+  # PyTorch 2.8 aarch64 + CUDA wheel is only available on CUDA 12.9
   - label: "Build release image (arm64)"
     depends_on: ~
     id: build-release-image-arm64
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ steps:
       queue: arm64_cpu_queue_postmerge
     commands:
       - "aws ecr-public get-login-password --region us-east-1 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7"
-      - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.8.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
+      - "DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build --build-arg max_jobs=16 --build-arg USE_SCCACHE=1 --build-arg GIT_REPO_CHECK=1 --build-arg CUDA_VERSION=12.9.1 --build-arg torch_cuda_arch_list='8.7 9.0 10.0+PTX 12.0' --build-arg INSTALL_KV_CONNECTORS=true --tag public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m) --target vllm-openai --progress plain -f docker/Dockerfile ."
       - "docker push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-$(uname -m)"
 
   # Add job to create multi-arch manifest
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ steps:
       - create-multi-arch-manifest
       - build-wheel-cuda-12-8
       - build-wheel-cuda-12-6
-      - build-wheel-cuda-11-8
+      - build-wheel-cuda-12-9
     id: annotate-release-workflow
     agents:
       queue: cpu_queue_postmerge
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/upload-wheels.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/upload-wheels.sh
index 745f285c008a..43aa8c47be29 100644
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/upload-wheels.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/upload-wheels.sh
@@ -58,14 +58,15 @@ python3 .buildkite/generate_index.py --wheel "$normal_wheel"
 aws s3 cp "$wheel" "s3://vllm-wheels/$BUILDKITE_COMMIT/"
 aws s3 cp "$normal_wheel" "s3://vllm-wheels/$BUILDKITE_COMMIT/"
 
-if [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu118"* ]]; then
-    # if $normal_wheel matches cu118, do not upload the index.html
-    echo "Skipping index files for cu118 wheels"
-elif [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu126"* ]]; then
+if [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu126"* ]]; then
     # if $normal_wheel matches cu126, do not upload the index.html
     echo "Skipping index files for cu126 wheels"
+elif [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu128"* ]]; then
+    # if $normal_wheel matches cu128, do not upload the index.html
+    echo "Skipping index files for cu128 wheels"
 else
-    # only upload index.html for cu128 wheels (default wheels)
+    # only upload index.html for cu129 wheels (default wheels) as it
+    # is available on both x86 and arm64
     aws s3 cp index.html "s3://vllm-wheels/$BUILDKITE_COMMIT/vllm/index.html"
     aws s3 cp "s3://vllm-wheels/nightly/index.html" "s3://vllm-wheels/$BUILDKITE_COMMIT/index.html"
 fi
@@ -74,14 +75,15 @@ fi
 aws s3 cp "$wheel" "s3://vllm-wheels/nightly/"
 aws s3 cp "$normal_wheel" "s3://vllm-wheels/nightly/"
 
-if [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu118"* ]]; then
-    # if $normal_wheel matches cu118, do not upload the index.html
-    echo "Skipping index files for cu118 wheels"
-elif [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu126"* ]]; then
+if [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu126"* ]]; then
     # if $normal_wheel matches cu126, do not upload the index.html
     echo "Skipping index files for cu126 wheels"
+elif [[ $normal_wheel == *"cu128"* ]]; then
+    # if $normal_wheel matches cu128, do not upload the index.html
+    echo "Skipping index files for cu128 wheels"
 else
-    # only upload index.html for cu128 wheels (default wheels)
+    # only upload index.html for cu129 wheels (default wheels) as it
+    # is available on both x86 and arm64
     aws s3 cp index.html "s3://vllm-wheels/nightly/vllm/index.html"
 fi
 
diff --git a/tools/install_deepgemm.sh b/tools/install_deepgemm.sh
index b125cda96f17..98427f1835ec 100755
--- a/tools/install_deepgemm.sh
+++ b/tools/install_deepgemm.sh
@@ -105,4 +105,4 @@ fi
 
 popd
 
-echo "✅ DeepGEMM installation completed successfully"
\ No newline at end of file
+echo "✅ DeepGEMM installation completed successfully"