Does Artificial Intelligence Promote Firms’ Green Technological Innovation?

Green technological innovation represents one of the critical driving forces for addressing environmental issues and advancing the sustainable development process. As a key driver of the new round of technological transformation, artificial intelligence is bound to exert significant impacts on firms’ green technological innovation. In this study, green technology innovation is divided into clean production and pollution control technology innovation according to the production link. A double fixed-effects model was used to test the impact of AI using data from Chinese listed companies from 2006 to 2020. The research findings are as follows: First, artificial intelligence has a significant contribution to green technology innovation in different segments. Second, mechanism analysis reveals that artificial intelligence enhances green technological innovation by improving human capital caliber and firm efficiency. Third, heterogeneity analysis shows that the greater the intensity of environmental regulation a firm faces, the greater the incentive for the firm to use AI for green technology innovation; its effect on pollution control technological innovation is more significant for firms in high-pollution industries; and its effect on clean production technological innovation is more prominent for enterprises in low-pollution industries.