China dominates the US in AI patents

China is increasing its lead over the US in AI patent applications, showing the country's steadfast commitment to influencing a technology with far-reaching implications for the world's most prosperous economies.

In 2022, Chinese institutions filed 29,853 AI-related patents, up from 29,000 the previous year, according to data provided by the World Intellectual Property Organization to Bloomberg News.

This represents a nearly 80% jump compared to declining US claims, which fell 5.5%. China was responsible for more than 40 percent of the world's AI patent applications last year, according to the UN-affiliated agency. The other leading countries in 2022 are Japan and South Korea with a total of 16,700 requests.

These figures highlight how Beijing is actively encouraging Chinese companies and organizations to gain an edge in critical areas such as semiconductor manufacturing, space research and military science. President Xi Jinping recently ordered the nation to speed up basic research in response to US attempts to limit its access to advanced technology.

This has led to a significant increase in investment by Chinese companies in the field of artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Baidu Inc. now competes with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., as well as with startups such as Baichuan and Zhipu, in a bid to create a local counterpart to the pioneering generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT developed by US rival OpenAI.

Experts closely connected to decision-makers in Beijing say that building up a patent portfolio is one of the most effective means of countering Washington's campaign to impose restrictions.

While not all patent applications translate into actual inventions, Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies Co. have proven to be pioneers in innovation in sectors such as networking, supercomputing and image recognition.

Back in 2017, China overtook the US in the number of AI patent applications, as local companies significantly increased their use of algorithms in industries ranging from passenger transportation to online shopping.

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