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

Core Insights - The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is experiencing a significant increase in trading activity, processing 1.2 trillion order messages per day, a threefold increase from four years ago [1][2] - The surge in trading volume is attributed to AI-driven trading, algorithmic strategies, and high-speed market participants, fundamentally transforming U.S. market structures [1][2] Trading Volume and Market Dynamics - In April, a peak day for the NYSE saw 1.2 trillion incoming order messages, compared to about 350 billion messages per day during the early days of the COVID pandemic four years ago [2] - Each message represents a buy order, sell order, or match, indicating that stocks are changing hands at unprecedented speeds [2] AI Integration in Market Surveillance - The NYSE has integrated artificial intelligence to monitor trading flows in real time, as human oversight is no longer sufficient to keep pace with market activity [3] - AI functions as a regulatory tool, scanning for market manipulation, spoofing, and cyberattacks amidst the high volume of daily messages [3] Cybersecurity Measures - The NYSE operates a private, offline data center, which is unique among exchanges, to address rising cybersecurity concerns alongside increasing message volume [4] - This data center is isolated from the public internet, utilizing point-to-point links to enhance security and protect critical infrastructure [5]