Baidu, Tencent top the charts as China leads AI patents race, India fifth on the list

Generative AI

There might be a perception that China has been caught on the back foot when it comes to AI innovations. US-based companies like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI seem to have stolen the march and China is playing catch up. However, when it comes to AI-related patents, it is China that is leading from the front.

A report published by the United Nations reveals that China leads the patent race when it comes to artificial intelligence. As per the agency’s Patent Landscape Report, between 2014-2023, more than 38,000 GenAI patents came out of China. The number of patents was six times more than those filed by inventors in the United States, which came in second place.

India ranked fifth on the list with 1,350 patents filed. Republic of Korea with 4,155 patent applications and Japan with 3,409 patent applications ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

“GenAI has emerged as a game-changing technology with the potential to transform the way we work, live and play,” said Daren Tang, WIPO Director General.

The report also revealed the top 10 patent applicants. China-based Tencent Group leads with 2,074 patent invention applications. The list is, in fact, dominated by Chinese companies. The top ten applicants include Tencent (2,074 inventions), Ping An Insurance (1,564), Baidu (1,234), Chinese Academy of Sciences (607), IBM (601), Alibaba Group (571), Samsung Electronics (468), Alphabet (443), ByteDance (418), and Microsoft (377).

There was little surprise to see image and video data dominating GenAI patents (17,996 inventions), followed by text (13,494) and speech or music (13,480).