Artificial Intelligence-Driven Decarbonization in The United States: The Roles of Energy use, Foreign Direct Investment, and Economic Growth (1990–2022)

The escalating climate challenge in advanced economies necessitates structural solutions that align technological progress with environmental sustainability. This study re-examines the determinants of carbon emissions in the United States by emphasizing the strategic role of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation within the energy–investment–growth nexus over the period 1990–2022. Anchored in the extended STIRPAT framework, the analysis employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to explore both long-run equilibrium relationships and short-run dynamics among economic growth, energy consumption, foreign direct investment (FDI), urbanization, and CO2 emissions. Stationarity diagnostics confirm a mixed order of integration, justifying the application of bounds testing, which reveals a stable long-term association among the variables. Empirical findings indicate that AI innovation contributes to emission mitigation by enhancing technological…