China filed six times more patents for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies than United States-based inventors, according to a report by the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released Wednesday, July 3.

China Leads Generative AI Patents Race: UN Report

This reportedly demonstrates China's significant lead in the competitive generative AI race. Reuters reported that over 50,000 patent applications for generative AI have been filed in the last decade, according to the WIPO, which manages a system for countries to share patent recognition.

About 25% of the patents were submitted in 2023 alone. WIPO Patent Analytics Manager Christopher Harrison said they predict tremendous growth in this field.

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China Has 38,200 Inventions vs. 6,300 From US

From 2014 until the present, China has produced more than 38,200 innovations in generative AI, a sixfold increase compared to the 6,300 from the US. According to The Associated Press, they were followed by Japan with almost 3,400, South Korea with 4,155, and India with 1,350.

The Chinese patent filings spanned various industries, including autonomous driving, publishing, and document management. Alibaba Group, Microsoft, and ByteDance, owner of TikTok, were among the top patent applicants. Harrison said generative AI might revolutionize several economic sectors.

These include research, publishing, transportation, and security, in addition to the already prevalent usage of chatbots that can imitate human conversation to improve customer service in retail and other industries.

According to him, the patent data indicates that this field will significantly influence multiple sectors in the future. WIPO has said that it anticipates an influx of new patent applications soon and intends to publish an updated version of the data in the near future.

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