Artificial Intelligence and Enterprise Export Price Markup in China’s Economy: Based on Large Language Models

China’s exports face long-standing challenges of low quality, low price, and low profit margins. Amid intensifying global economic competition and deeper value chains, breaking the ‘low-value-added lock-in’ to boost export enterprises’ profit margins is urgent for addressing foreign trade bottlenecks. This study systematically examines artificial intelligence (AI)’s effect and mechanism on export enterprises’ price markup. It integrates 2007–2016 data from China’s Customs Database and Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share manufacturing listed companies, combined with AI indicators built by extracting annual report text via large language models. Results show AI significantly raises export enterprises’ price markup, with the ‘intelligent empowerment’ model having a stronger promotional effect than ‘machine replacing human’. Mechanism analysis reveals AI’s dual impacts: positive effects from efficiency improvement and technological innovation, and negative effects from intensified market competition and higher information transparency. Heterogeneity analysis finds AI benefits state-owned enterprises, high-productivity enterprises, quality-competitive enterprises, and those exporting to developed countries more. Additionally, it reduces markup dispersion and improves resource allocation efficiency. Overall, AI drives export enterprises to break low-value-added dilemmas, optimise resource allocation, and further boost China’s export economy.