TIANJIN, CHINA – JUNE 20: A humanoid robot Xiao Qi is displayed during the World Intelligence Expo 2024 at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin) on June 20, 2024 in Tianjin, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China is leading the global patent race for generative artificial intelligence, filing more than 38,000 patents between 2014 and 2023, according to a new United Nations report released Thursday.
That’s six times more than those filed by U.S.-based inventors, the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization said.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that allows users to generate content such as text, images, music, audio, and videos.
Geographically, China leads with 38,210 inventions, far surpassing the United States (6,276), the Republic of Korea (4,155), Japan (3,409) and India (1,350).
According to the report, generative AI patents currently account for 6% of total AI patents worldwide.
“The sharp increase in patent filing activity reflects recent technological advances and the potential of GenAI,” the report said.
Top 10 Gen AI Patent Filers 2014-2023
| Number of patents | |
| Tencent | 2,074 |
| 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 |
| Microsoft | 377 |
China has been seeking to catch up with ChatGPT owner OpenAI and US tech titans Microsoft, Alphabet’s Google and Amazon in the development of large language models (LLMs), after being late to the game.
ChatGPT took the world by storm in November 2022 for its ability to generate human responses to user prompts.
Last year, Chinese tech giants including Alibaba and Baidu launched their own LLMs to challenge their American counterparts.
To consolidate its presence in the global tech race, China launched a three-year “action plan” in May to boost standards for AI chips, generative AI and strengthening domestic computing power, aiming to boost technological and economic development.
“China has [a] a largely untapped market for consumers and also for businesses and industrial partners who want to innovate and help bring generative AI technologies [in] “Different applications or industries, using different specialized data sets,” Wei Sun, senior artificial intelligence consultant at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Thursday.
“That’s the key for China to win, to really have real-world application deployments that could surpass the U.S. in this area.”
According to the UN report, image and video data dominate Gen AI patents with 17,996 inventions, followed by text (13,494) and speech or music (13,480).
By analyzing patent trends and data, the agency said it aims to help policymakers “shape the development of GenAI for our common benefit.”
