Dissipation of Debt Financing Privilege on Corporate AI Washing: Evidence from China (opens in new tab)

The rapid development of artificial intelligence motivates firms to engage in AI washing. This study examines whether strategic policy shocks increase debt financing costs for such firms. Leveraging China's 14th Five Year Plan as a quasi natural experiment, we identify AI washing through the residual between AI narrative intensity and patent output. External validation confirms this decoupling reflects strategic deception evidenced by subsidy ex...