We calculate the application of industrial robots at the listed firm level as a proxy for industrial intelligence and empirically examine the impact and mechanism on corporate tax avoidance. It is found that the transformation of industrial intelligence will significantly inhibit corporate tax avoidance, that is, industrial intelligence has a tax governance effect. The mechanism analysis shows that the industrial intelligence reduces the tax avoidance income by improving production and operation efficiency, restricts the tax avoidance ability by reducing the degree of information asymmetry, and ultimately helps to restrain the tax avoidance of enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the tax governance effect of industrial intelligence is more significant in private firms, and firms with more adequate cash reserves or with lower risk appetite.