While prior research has consistently demonstrated that firms respond to performance feedback relative to aspiration levels, the extant literature has overlooked the crucial fact that external social forces could significantly impact firms’ response actions. This study leverages the emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI) to propose that firms’ pursuits of new technology innovation are influenced not only by technological performance feedback but also by social forces arising from external public discourses. This study argues that, in the pursuit of AI technological innovation, a firm’s non-AI technological performance and social forces play a role and can interact with each other. Specifically, firms are inclined to inhibit AI innovations when firms experience performance shortfalls in their existing technology innovation, but positive public discourses about AI can facilitate the pursuit of AI innovations, and alleviate the negative impact of the existing technology shortfalls. The interaction relationship is further moderated by the complexity of public discourses, a firm’s R&D capability, and technological overlap among a firm’s existing technologies. Using a sample of 2,787 listed U.S. firms from 2001 to 2023, the findings provide robust support for the arguments. This study contributes to the organizational adaptation literature, highlighting the impact of an unexplored combination of performance-feedback loop incorporating external social forces.