Against the backdrop of China’s "twin transition" strategy integrating digitalization and green development, the mechanisms through which AI technology integration influences sustainable product innovation (SPI) have become a prominent research topic. However, existing studies predominantly examine this relationship at the macro or industry level, overlooking firm-level mechanisms. Furthermore, the intermediate pathways through which AI technology integration influences SPI remain underexplored. Based on resource orchestration theory, this study examines how AI technology integration influences different types of SPI using a sample of 298 firms. The findings reveal that AI technology integration positively affects both functional and systemic SPI, with a stronger impact on systemic SPI. AI technology integration also positively influences both consumer and business digital platform capabilities. Consumer digital platform capability positively affects both functional and systemic SPI, with a stronger impact on functional SPI. Business digital platform capability positively affects both functional and systemic SPI, with a stronger impact on systemic SPI. Furthermore, consumer digital platform capability mediates the relationship between AI technology integration and functional SPI, while business digital platform capability mediates the relationship between AI technology integration and systemic SPI.

This study makes several theoretical contributions. First, it reveals the mechanism through which AI technology integration affects SPI and advances research at the nexus of AI and corporate sustainability. Notably, existing studies often treat SPI as a whole and lack refined exploration of its types. This study deconstructs SPI into functional and systemic types, reveals how AI technology integration affects distinct innovation scenarios, and also provides theoretical insights for subsequent classification research on SPI.

Second, the study deeply explores the value creation process of AI technology integration in SPI and clarifies the internal link between digital platform capabilities in AI technology integration and SPI based on resource orchestration theory. This offers a more integrative framework for examining the connection between AI technology integration and SPI. It also extends resource orchestration theory to the emerging field of AI and sustainable innovation research.

Third, this paper clarifies how digital platform capabilities foster SPI and enriches the research on SPI antecedent variables. Prior empirical research on the role of digital platform capabilities in helping firms achieve SPI goals remains scarce. In particular, the distinct effects of consumer and business capabilities across SPI contexts have not been fully examined. This paper reveals their differentiated impacts on functional and systemic SPI. It specifies how digital platform capabilities align with SPI outcomes and also supplements existing research on SPI antecedent variables.

Practically, the study provides actionable guidance for firms to leverage AI technologies to promote SPI. Specifically, when focusing on functional SPI, firms should prioritize investment in AI-driven personalized recommendation and intelligent service systems to enhance consumer digital platform capability and identify functional requirements from user experience and preference data. When focusing on systemic SPI, firms should emphasize the development of business digital platform capability, applying machine learning algorithms to accurately predict customer needs and establishing flexible resource integration mechanisms and data-sharing systems to achieve collaborative innovation across the entire product lifecycle.