The AI industry has grown tremendously over the past years. Since 2020, the entire market has practically doubled and hit a $184-billion value, while the number of people using AI tools tripled to nearly 315-million.
The AI space has also seen a surge in patent activity. According to data presented by AltIndex.com, the total number of active patent families in the AI tech field surged by 940% in the past 10 years and has hit close to 320 000 – from just 30 800 in 2014.
A LexNexis survey also revealed interesting facts about which country has the most AI patent owners or which company has the highest-quality patent portfolio. In 2023, seven out of the top 1- owners based on active patent families in AI were from China, with Baidu as the leader.
Statistics show the Chinese tech giant had over 15 600 patent families last year, or 52-times more than in 2014. Tencent ranked second with roughly 14 500 active patent families, followed by State Grid`s 13 500.
All other top patent owners were far below these figures, including Microsoft, one of two US companies on this list. The US tech giant hit 6 400 patent families in 2023, showing a moderate increase compared to over 3 500 it owned 10 years ago.
According to the 2023 Patent Asset Index, Samsung’s patent portfolio had the most innovative strength, followed by Huawei, while Baidu, the owner with the most active patent families, ranked third.