Abstract:    The high-quality development of the manufacturing industry is the top priority of the high-quality development of China′s economy. As the core driving force of new quality productivity, artificial intelligence has a strong ability to influence the economy and society, and it is of great significance to study whether its introduction can improve the innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises. Based on the data of China′s manufacturing A-share listed enterprises from 2011 to 2019, this paper used the difference-in-differences method to systematically study the impact and mechanism of the application of artificial intelligence technology on the innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises. The results showed that: (1) the application of artificial intelligence technology significantly improves the innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises, and it is still valid after a series of robustness tests; (2) from the perspective of the mechanism, ai technology can improve the innovation performance of enterprises by influencing factors such as government subsidies, the total labor force and labor structure of enterprises; and (3) there is heterogeneity in the application of artificial intelligence technology in the innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises with different property rights and different life cycles. The study held that promoting the integration and application of artificial intelligence technology can not only promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry and expand the innovation space, but also become a strong driving force for the realization of China′s manufacturing industry "going from big to strong".

Key words: artificial intelligence, manufacturing industry, innovation performance, difference-in-differences method