China is significantly ahead of other nations in the realm of generative AI inventions, such as chatbots, filing six times more patents than its nearest competitor, the United States, according to U.N. data released on Wednesday.
Generative AI, which can create text, images, computer code, and even music from existing data, has seen a surge in innovation, with over 50,000 patent applications submitted in the past decade. This information comes from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which oversees international patent recognition.
Remarkably, 25% of these patents were filed in 2023 alone, indicating the rapid growth of this sector. "This is a booming area that is growing at increasing speed. And it's somewhere that we expect to grow even more," said Christopher Harrison, WIPO's Patent Analytics Manager.
Between 2014 and 2023, China filed more than 38,000 generative AI patents, compared to 6,276 filed by the United States, WIPO reported. Harrison noted that Chinese patent applications span various sectors, from autonomous driving to publishing and document management.
South Korea, Japan, and India followed China and the U.S. in the rankings, with India experiencing the fastest growth in generative AI patent filings.
Prominent applicants include China's ByteDance, owner of TikTok, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, and Microsoft, a backer of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
Generative AI is already being utilized by retailers and other businesses to enhance customer service through advanced chatbots. However, it holds the potential to revolutionize many other economic sectors, including science, publishing, transportation, and security, Harrison noted.
"The patent data suggests this is an area that is going to have a profound impact across many different industrial sectors going forward," Harrison added, highlighting that generative AI-created molecules could accelerate drug development in the scientific sector.
WIPO anticipates another wave of patent filings soon and plans to release an updated analysis, possibly employing generative AI to illustrate emerging trends.
