<p>The digital economy (DE) is a new major economic form born out of the information technology revolution. The rise of the digital economy (DE) is increasingly linked to climate change, yet its influence on carbon emissions has not been thoroughly investigated. Thus, this paper focuses on the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR), a region with significant developmental potential in central China. An innovative framework is proposed to construct a digital economy level (DEL) indicator system, encompassing four dimensions: infrastructure effect, technological innovation effect, industrial optimization effect, and factor allocation effect. Utilizing the entropy value method, this research quantifies the DEL of cities within the UAMRYR from 2011 to 2020. Furthermore, the standard elliptic difference model is employed used to elucidate the spatial heterogeneity of these cities. Lastly, the STIRPAT model is applied to explore the determinants of carbon emission intensity (CEI) influenced by the DEL. According to the results, (1) the DEL between 2011 and 2020 showed an overall increasing trend; the CEI showed a downward trend followed by a short increase. (2) the DEL overall was outwardly dispersed with the pioneer area as the core and changes to a contiguous aggregation pattern. The center of gravity gradually moved toward the southeast, and the ellipse area continued to increase. The CEI demonstrated a dynamic tendency toward a "low and medium" regional group distribution and a sporadic distribution of high-intensity regions. The spatial distribution pattern was relatively stable. (3) DE development in the study area could significantly reduce the CEI. The population size, the industrial structure, and the foreign investment level exhibited strong suppressive effects on the CEI, with the population size having the strongest inhibitory effect, whereas economic development did not exhibit a significant inhibitory effect. The urbanization level played a nonsignificant role in promoting the CEI. This study sheds new light on how DEL and CEI interact in the largest urban agglomeration in central China and innovatively explores how the DE within the urban agglomeration affects the CEI, which can help adjust the DEL in the regions and enhance the emission reduction effect generated by technological empowerment in each region.</p>