Improving energy efficiency is an important way to achieve low-carbon economic development, a common goal of most nations. Based on the comprehensive survey data of enterprises above a designated size in Guangdong Province, this paper studies the impact of artificial intelligence on the energy efficiency of manufacturing enterprises. The results show that: (1) artificial intelligence, as measured by the use of industrial robots, has significantly improved the energy efficiency of manufacturing enterprises. This conclusion is still robust after introducing data on industrial robots in the United States over the same time period as the instrumental variable for the endogeneity test. (2) The mechanism test shows that artificial intelligence mainly promotes the improvement in energy efficiency by promoting technological progress; the impact of artificial intelligence on the technological efficiency of enterprises is not significant. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the age of the manufacturing enterprises inhibits a promoting effect of artificial intelligence on energy efficiency; manufacturing enterprises’ performance can enhance the promoting effect of artificial intelligence on energy efficiency, but this promoting effect can only be shown when the enterprise performance is positive. The paper clarifies both the impact of artificial intelligence on the energy efficiency of manufacturing enterprises and its mechanism of action; this will help provide a reference for future decision-making designed to improve manufacturing enterprises’ energy efficiency.

This paper analyzes the impact of technology innovation on capacity utilization of enterprises located in the Yangtze River Economic Belt through logic reasoning and empirical modeling. Our analysis shows that the mechanism of how technology innovation affects capacity utilization is that the former promotes the latter through meeting market demand, improving production and management efficiency, and optimizing industrial structures. Our empirical results indicate that the influence of technology innovation on the capacity utilization of enterprises in the Yangtze River Economic Belt evidently possesses positive “U” characteristics. Compared with the upstream and downstream regions of the river, the technology innovation of enterprises in the middle reaches can break the U-shaped inflection point earlier. Compared with light industrial enterprises, heavy industrial enterprises can also break the U-shaped inflection point earlier. Compared with non-overcapacity enterprises, those with overcapacity can break the U-shaped inflection point earlier. The technology innovation of non-state-owned enterprises has obvious positive “U” characteristics in the impact of capacity utilization, while the technology innovation of state-owned enterprises has no significant impact on capacity utilization.