The article introduces the basic concepts, development history, and key technologies of artificial intelligence, defines the digital economy and elaborates on its main characteristics, and analyzes the concept of high-quality development and its significance in the digital economy era. On this basis, a theoretical analysis framework for empowering high-quality development of the digital economy with artificial intelligence was constructed, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the development of the digital economy was deeply analyzed. Then, from four key dimensions of technological innovation, efficiency improvement, market expansion, and industrial integration, the specific mechanism of artificial intelligence empowering high-quality development of the digital economy was systematically analyzed. In order to verify the promoting effect of artificial intelligence on industry efficiency improvement, taking the service industry as an example, provincial panel data from 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China from 2007 to 2019 were selected to empirically analyze the impact and mechanism of artificial intelligence on service industry efficiency. Finally, the path of empowering high-quality development of the digital economy with artificial intelligence is proposed from four aspects: strengthening basic research and technological breakthroughs, promoting industrial application and upgrading, emphasizing talent cultivation and introduction, and improving policies, regulations, and ethical construction. This study not only enriches the theoretical connotation of artificial intelligence and digital economy, but also provides useful reference and guidance for practical application.