This paper aims to systematically elucidate how “Artificial Intelligence+ (AI+)”, as a national strategic initiative, endogenously drives the generation and development of new quality productive forces. Against the backdrop of high-quality development becoming the primary task of the new era and technological innovation occupying a central position in modernization efforts, the 2024 Chinese Government Work Report officially proposed the “AI+” initiative, marking a new phase in China’s drive to deeply integrate digital technologies with the real economy. However, existing research largely focuses on artificial intelligence technology itself, with insufficient in-depth exploration of its unique role as an institutionalized integration paradigm that connects technological breakthroughs with productivity leaps. Therefore, clarifying the internal logic and implementation mechanism of “AI+” empowering new quality productive forces holds significant theoretical value and practical urgency. Grounded in Marxist political economy, this paper constructs an integrated analytical framework, defining “AI+” as an integration paradigm and a core intermediary mechanism led by the state, responded to by the market, and coordinated by institutions. Employing a combination of normative analysis and mechanism deconstruction, the study focuses on how “AI+” systematically acts on the three elements of productive forces through its technological triangle, and in the process, forces adaptive changes in the institutional environment. The research premises are established on a systematic review of central policy texts, cutting-edge technological advancements, and industrial practice cases, ensuring that theoretical deductions are closely aligned with real-world contexts. The research process begins by tracing the historical evolution of “AI+” from technological application to a national strategic paradigm. It then analyzes the foundational conditions for its empowerment of new quality productive forces from three dimensions: new infrastructure, value foundations, and institutional support. The core section delves into its internal mechanisms: algorithms, as intelligent collaborators, drive the leap of laborers toward “intelligence-augmented subjects”; computing power, as the material foundation, reconstructs a globally coordinated system of intelligent means of labor; data, as a new form of labor object, expands production boundaries by activating value across entire chains. The synergy of these three elements promotes a qualitative transformation in the combination of productive forces factors from linear superposition to networked collaboration. On this basis, the study further proposes a realization pathway driven by the dual forces of top-down institutional construction and bottom-up market integration. The core conclusion drawn from the research is that “AI+” is not merely a tool for technological empowerment but a strategic integration paradigm that is inherent in the process of Chinese modernization and aims to systematically reconstruct the three elements of productive forces and their combination methods. Through the deep integration of technology, industry, and institutions, this study provides a fundamental pathway for achieving a leap in total factor productivity, which is the core symbol of new quality productive forces. The innovation of this study lies in being the first to explicitly define “AI+” as the core intermediary mechanism for the generation of new quality productive forces, transcending the unidirectional logic of “technological empowerment” and constructing an integrated theoretical framework that connects the three elements of technology and the three elements of productive forces. Its policy implications provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the top-level design of “AI+” initiatives, improving the systems for new-type factors such as data and computing power, and constructing a talent ecosystem for human-machine collaboration. Academically, this study deepens the understanding of the formation mechanisms of new quality productive forces, enriches the theoretical connotation of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics regarding productivity development in the digital era, and responds to the call of “the 15th Five-Year Plan Proposal” to develop new quality productive forces.