Impacts of AI Technology Applications on Urban Low-Carbon Energy Transition under the background of Electricity-Carbon-Green Certificate Market Coupling

Currently, a new wave of technological revolution represented by artificial intelligence, big data, and industrial internet is emerging worldwide, driving profound industrial transformation characterized by informatization, digitization, and intelligence. While industrial intelligence promotes high-quality economic development, does it also drive the transformation towards low-carbon energy or triggering rebound effects? Based on this, we conducted an analysis to examine the correlation between industrial intelligence and the transition toward lowcarbon energy. The intermediary mechanism suggests that industrial intelligence contributes to the transition towards lowcarbon energy by enhancing cities’ green innovation capacity and optimizing energy utilization efficiency. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis indicates that in the central and eastern regions and cities with higher levels of informatization, industrial intelligence tends to facilitate the transition towards low-carbon energy. Further analysis shows that pilot policies such as “Smart Cities” and “Broadband China” can also greatly promote the transition towards low-carbon energy. The findings have significant policy implications for developing nations striving to adopt the technologies of industrial intelligence and accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy sources.