BACKGROUND: The Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) was originally developed primarily as a marker for assessing atherosclerosis. Consequently, this study investigates the potential association between AIP and type 2 diabetic complications through a cross-sectional design. METHODS: The National Metabolic Management Center(MMC) serves as a comprehensive platform dedicated to the establishment of standardized protocols for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term follow-up of metabolic diseases. Following the relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 3,094 patients were enrolled for subsequent analysis. In this study, logistic regression, restricted cubic splines, and subgroup analyses were employed to evaluate the association between the AIP and four major complications of type 2 diabetes, namely, type 2 diabetes with carotid atherosclerosis (DA), diabetic kidney disease (DKD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). RESULTS: The logistic regression results demonstrate that in the fully adjusted model, each SD increase in AIP correlates with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetic kidney disease (DKD), with the risk of kidney damage intensifying alongside higher AIP groupings. The RCS analysis and subgroup analyses similarly revealed a dose-response relationship between AIP levels and the risk of DKD. Furthermore, the AIP was not found to be statistically significantly associated with DA, DR,and DPN. CONCLUSIONS: The AIP may serve as a valuable predictive indicator for evaluating kidney damage in patients with type 2 diabetes, and regular screening of AIP in this population could provide significant benefits in the prevention of DKD.