Abstract: Comprehensively advancing the Artificial Intelligence Plus initiative and invigorating diverse market entities are key priorities during the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan period. Drawing on data from the Fourteenth National Survey of Private Enterprises,this study employed the emerging classical inframarginal approach to examine the impact of artificial intelligence technology application on private enterprise investment and to uncover its underlying mechanisms. The results indicated that AI application significantly promoted private enterprise investment. AI technology mainly exerted its investment-stimulating effect through three pathways: optimizing internal management, enhancing product research and development, and improving supply chain management. Heterogeneity analysis further showed that this positive effect was more pronounced among enterprises with stabler industrial chains, more favorable market credit environments, higher levels of corporate governance, and those not yet engaged in succession planning.
