Abstract:    An appropriate exploratory innovation pace is crucial for enhancing corporate innovation efficiency and success rates, and it is of great significance for seizing innovation opportunities and realizing innovation-driven development. In the era of digital intelligence, the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology have brought many opportunities for a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. However, existing research is insufficient in examining the relationship between the AI application and exploratory innovation pace at the firm level. Based on the organizational information processing theory and the data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020, this paper conducted an empirical analysis on the relationship between AI application and exploratory innovation pace. The results showed that: (1) AI application has an inverted U-shaped impact on exploratory innovation pace; (2) Top management team regulatory focus moderates the relationship between AI application and exploratory innovation pace; (3) TMT promotion focus and prevention focus have heterogeneous regulatory effects on the relationship between AI application and exploratory innovation pace; and (4) The inverted U-shaped impact of AI application on exploratory innovation pace is stronger in non-state-owned enterprises, mature enterprises, low-tech industries, and enterprises in low-competition market environments. By doing so, this paper has deepened the understanding of the impact of AI application on exploratory innovation pace at the micro-corporate level and it will provide profound insights into the impact mechanism of top management team preference differences on corporate information processing and matching processes.

Key words: artificial intelligence application, exploratory innovation, innovation rhythm, TMT regulatory focus, organizational information processing