Using data from A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2023, this study employs text analysis techniques to identify and define AI-related M&A events, focusing on their impacts on corporate innovation activities. The study finds that conducting artificial intelligence M&As is beneficial to corporate innovation activities, and the mechanism is that artificial intelligence M&As improve innovation efficiency and reduce innovation costs. Heterogeneity tests based on firm characteristics reveal that private enterprises and high-growth firms benefit more from AI M&As in promoting innovation. Industry- and region-level tests further indicate that the positive effect of AI M&As is more pronounced in industries with higher competition, in non-high-tech sectors, and in regions with stronger intellectual property protection and richer data resources. Extended analysis suggests that AI M&As primarily drives non-AI innovation, implying that AI technologies serve as an enabler of firms’ core business innovation. Compared with non-AI M&As, AI M&As also generates greater market value for firms.