TIANJIN, CHINA – JUNE 20: The humanoid robot “Xiaoqi” is displayed at the 2024 World Intelligence Expo at the National Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin, China on June 20, 2024. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China is leading the world in the race to patent generative artificial intelligence, filing more than 38,000 patents between 2014 and 2023, according to a new United Nations report released on Thursday.
That’s six times the number of applications filed by U.S.-based inventors, according to the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that allows users to generate content such as text, images, music, audio, and video.
Geographically, China leads the way with 38,210 inventions, well ahead of the United States (6,276), South Korea (4,155), Japan (3,409) and India (1,350).
According to the report, generative AI patents currently account for 6% of all AI patents globally.
“The surge in patenting activity reflects recent technological advances and the potential of GenAI,” the report said.
Top 10 AI Patent Applicants from 2014 to 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 lagged behind in developing large-scale language models (LLMs) but has been trying to catch up with ChatGPT owner OpenAI, as well as US tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet’s Google and Amazon.
ChatGPT became a worldwide sensation in November 2022 due to its ability to generate human-like responses to user prompts.
Last year, Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba and Baidu launched their own law masters programs to compete with their US counterparts.
China unveiled a three-year “action plan” in May to boost standards for AI chips and generative AI and bolster the country’s computing power, aiming to drive technological and economic development as it seeks to strengthen its presence in the global high-tech race.
“China [a] This is an untapped market for consumers, as well as business and industry partners, to innovate and help bring generative AI technologies to life. [in] “Different applications and industries use different specialized datasets,” Wei Sun, senior consultant in artificial intelligence research at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Thursday.
“The key to China winning is actually getting to deploy real applications in this area that allow them to outperform the U.S.”
According to the UN report, image and video data made up the majority of first-generation AI patents at 17,996, followed by text (13,494) and audio or music (13,480).
The agency said that by analyzing patenting trends and data, it aims to help policymakers “shape the development of GenAI for our common benefit.”
