AI Fuels Unprecedented Surge in NYSE Trading Activity, Reshaping Wall Street

AI trading is flooding Wall Street -- and fueling a 1.2 trillion-message trading surge, NYSE president says | Fortune

Humans are no longer the ones setting the breakneck pace on Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange is now processing 1.2 trillion order messages per day, a staggering threefold jump from just four years ago, according to New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin. The surge, she said, is being driven by AI-fueled trading, algorithmic strategies, and hyperspeed market participants that have transformed the structure of U.S. markets. "When I first took this job four years ago, COVID was still rearing its ugly head, and a volatile day in our market saw about 350 billion incoming order messages a day," Martin said during an interview with Fortune at the Most Powerful Women summit. "This past April, a peak day for us was 1.2 trillion messages." Each message on the stock exchange represents a buy order, sell order, or match, meaning that stocks are changing hands faster than ever. Martin said the NYSE now relies on artificial intelligence to monitor trading flows in real time, because humans alone are no longer capable of keeping up with the velocity of activity. "It's our obligation to protect the financial markets, so we have to surveil those messages," Martin said. "We can't do that with a bunch of humans. We need good technology. So we use AI in our regulatory function all over, looking for nefarious behavior in the market." This is one of the first times the NYSE has openly acknowledged just how deeply AI has become embedded into U.S. financial market in just a few years. AI now acts as a kind of market cop, scanning trillions of micro-movements to detect manipulation, spoofing and cyberattacks. And, in a world where daily messages now top a trillion, that hypervigilant regulation becomes necessary. Why NYSE runs a private, offline data center Speed isn't the only pressure shaping Wall Street. Cybersecurity concerns have risen sharply alongside message volume, and Martin said the NYSE operates differently from most exchanges and trading platforms in one critical way: they have their own data center "We're a little unique in that we have our own purpose-built data center. We have matching engines in that data center, and we run our own proprietary network," she said. She added that this data center has no internet. Everything inside the NYSE's core trading environment operates on point-to-point links, isolated from the public internet entirely. "We take cyber super seriously," she said. "On our most critical infrastructure, we have full visibility of the system, and therefore we can protect that infrastructure." Roaring IPO market Far from scaring off companies, Martin said the surge in market activity and the NYSE's heavy investment in technology are actually pulling more companies toward the public markets -- not pushing them away. After two years of IPO drought, listings have come roaring back in 2025, and CEOs are "calling nonstop" to secure a debut window on the exchange. "The IPO market is really, really strong," she said. "We've had a great year so far across all sectors." She added that CEOs are actively pushing to go public again after a long freeze: "The amount of CEOs calling me saying, 'When's the government going to open up again?' -- our phones are ringing a lot." Much of that demand, she added, comes from CEOs and investors who want to be in markets that are liquid, resilient, and regulated, no matter how fast they move. The rise of AI, the trillion-message trading surge, and cyber risks aren't reasons to step back from the public market. Quite the contrary.

Is AI taking over Wall Street? Here's how AI keeps up with NYSE's 1.2 trillion daily order messages

AI trading stock market: The New York Stock Exchange is now processing a record 1.2 trillion order messages per day, three times higher than four years ago, revealed NYSE President Lynn Martin, as per a report. The surge is being driven by AI-powered and algorithmic trading, which has rapidly changed how US markets operate, as per a Fortune report. Martin said in an interview with Fortune at the Most Powerful Women Summit, "When I first took this job four years ago, COVID was still rearing its ugly head, and a volatile day in our market saw about 350 billion incoming order messages a day," adding, "This past April, a peak day for us was 1.2 trillion messages," as quoted in the report. Each message represents a buy or sell order or a match, showing that trading activity has reached speeds beyond human capacity, according to the Fortune report. Martin said that the NYSE relies on artificial intelligence to monitor trading in real time, as humans can no longer keep up with the sheer volume of activity, as per the report. She said, "It's our obligation to protect the financial markets, so we have to surveil those messages," adding, "We can't do that with a bunch of humans. We need good technology. So we use AI in our regulatory function all over, looking for nefarious behavior in the market," as quoted by Fortune. AI now acts as a regulatory tool, scanning trillions of micro-movements to detect manipulation, spoofing and cyberattacks as trading continues to accelerate, as per the report. ALSO READ: Gen Z like protests in 2500 towns and cities in US against Trump - who's behind the October 18 No Kings Protest Martin also highlighted the NYSE's unique data infrastructure, explaining that the exchange operates its own data center that is completely offline and separate from the internet. She revealed that, "We're a little unique in that we have our own purpose-built data center. We have matching engines in that data center, and we run our own proprietary network," as quoted in the report. Martin pointed out that this data center has no internet and everything inside the NYSE's core trading environment operates on point-to-point links, isolated from the public internet entirely, as reported by Fortune. She added that, "We take cyber super seriously," adding, "On our most critical infrastructure, we have full visibility of the system, and therefore we can protect that infrastructure," as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: After HR, Amazon plans to layoff in this major department - check if you are affected Martin even highlighted that the surge in market activity and the NYSE's heavy investment in technology have driven more companies toward the public markets and said that companies are returning to the public market after two slow years. She said, "The IPO market is really, really strong," adding, "We've had a great year so far across all sectors," as quoted in the report. Martin shared that CEOs are actively pushing to go public again after a long freeze, saying, "The amount of CEOs calling me saying, 'When's the government going to open up again?' -- our phones are ringing a lot," as quoted by Fortune. A lot of that demand comes from CEOs and investors who want to be in markets that are liquid, resilient, and regulated, no matter how fast they move, and the rise of AI, the trillion-message trading surge, and cyber risks aren't reasons to step back from the public market, as reported by Fortune. She said, "Large deals are getting done." Why is AI needed on Wall Street? The trading volume is too high for humans to monitor manually, so AI helps track and regulate trades in real time, as per the report. How does AI protect the financial markets? AI detects suspicious activity like manipulation, spoofing, and cyber threats instantly.

NYSE Sees Record Message Volumes as AI Fuels Trading | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Each message represents a single instruction to buy, sell, cancel or modify an order. Martin said the sharp rise reflects how artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic systems are redefining the pace and structure of U.S. financial markets. "When I first took this job four years ago, COVID was still rearing its head, and a volatile day in our market saw about 350 billion incoming order messages," she told Fortune. "This past April, a peak day for us was 1.2 trillion messages." Martin attributed the surge to "AI-fueled trading, algorithmic strategies and hyper-speed market participants." Algorithmic trading has existed for decades, but recent advances in machine learning have made these systems more adaptive, able to learn from new data rather than follow fixed rules. As research from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology notes, AI-driven algorithms can now analyze market patterns, adjust pricing, and execute trades within milliseconds. This shift has multiplied the amount of trading-related data flowing through exchanges like the NYSE as automated systems compete to update and manage orders in real time. Martin said the scale and speed of trading activity have made human oversight alone impossible. "It's our obligation to protect the financial markets, so we have to watch those messages," she said. "We can't do that with a bunch of humans. We need good technology." Artificial intelligence is now central to the NYSE's surveillance systems, helping the exchange monitor trades and detect irregular behavior in real time. In an interview with CNBC, Martin said the NYSE's systems are now handling record traffic more efficiently than they did during the market turmoil of 2020. She said infrastructure upgrades and the use of AI-based monitoring tools have allowed the exchange to manage higher trading volumes without major disruptions. The NYSE Research, described how a volatile week in April illustrated the scale of modern trading. "The five trading days between April 3 and April 9 marked a period of unprecedented volatility in U.S. equity markets. All five trading days landed in the top ten highest volume days in history, including three distinct record-setting days capped by a record 30.98 billion shares on April 9 as the S&P 500 rallied 9.5 percent. The NYSE Group handled over 1 trillion messages on multiple days, a new all-time high." Despite the record activity, the NYSE said its market structure helped maintain stability. Trading halts, which temporarily stop buying and selling when prices move sharply, occurred 25 times on the NYSE compared with 334 on a competing exchange. The exchange credited its hybrid model, which combines automated order matching with oversight by human market professionals known as Designated Market Makers, for helping stabilize prices and maintain liquidity during rapid market movements. To handle the growing message flow, the NYSE operates a purpose-built data center and private network that are disconnected from the public internet. Martin said this design improves both performance and cybersecurity. "We take cyber super seriously," she told Fortune. "On our most critical infrastructure, we have full visibility of the system, and therefore we can protect that infrastructure." The exchange's parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, has expanded its data-processing systems using Snowflake's Data Cloud. ICE said the move reduced data costs by about 50% and improved reporting speeds by 80%. The system processes detailed, time-stamped trade data that supports compliance and oversight. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described similar trends across global markets, noting that "AI-driven trading could lead to faster and more efficient markets, but also higher trading volumes and greater volatility in times of stress." The IMF said that as AI becomes more widely used, "markets could become opaque, harder to monitor, and more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and manipulation risks." It also reported that the share of AI-related patents in algorithmic trading has grown rapidly, underscoring how deeply machine learning is being integrated into financial systems. The IMF warned that because many AI systems act on similar data and signals, they can respond in the same way during market stress, which could amplify volatility. It observed that while AI can deepen liquidity and improve efficiency in stable conditions, it may also heighten systemic risk when multiple trading systems react simultaneously. Martin said the NYSE's goal is to ensure stability even as trading volumes and speeds continue to rise. She said the exchange's hybrid structure, private network, and AI-based monitoring systems have made it more resilient than during previous periods of volatility.