Why China Dominates Generative AI Patents: WIPO’s 2014‑2023 Landscape

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently analyzed patents and scientific publications related to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) from 2014 to 2023, finding more than 54,000 inventions and over 75,000 papers, with China overwhelmingly leading the field.

The report shows that patent families rose from 733 in 2014 to over 14,000 in 2023, while scientific articles surged from 116 to more than 34,000 in the same period.

China accounted for 38,210 GenAI inventions, far surpassing the United States, which contributed only 6,276.

Chinese institutions dominate the top‑ten list of patent applicants:

Tencent – 2,074 inventions

Ping An Insurance – 1,564

Baidu – 1,234

Chinese Academy of Sciences – 607

IBM – 601

Alibaba – 571

Samsung Electronics – 468

Google – 443

ByteDance – 418

Microsoft – 377

In terms of granted patents, Tencent again leads, outpacing Ping An, Baidu, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and IBM.

OpenAI ranks low in scientific paper output (335th with 48 papers) but its work has been cited 11,816 times, making it the 13th most recognized AI research source.

Nearly 18,000 GenAI patents involve image or video technologies, followed by text‑related inventions and a category WIPO labels “voice/sound/music.” Only 239 patent families address “software/code,” placing it seventh among GenAI topics.

Patents concerning “molecules/genetics/proteins” rank sixth in frequency, with the fastest growth since 2018.

WIPO cautions that claims about GenAI inventing future medicines may be premature.

The organization notes that growth rates are very high across both small‑scale applications such as agriculture and energy management, and large‑scale fields like life sciences, security, and physical sciences/engineering.

Interest in GenAI applications in telecommunications, military, arts, humanities, and “industrial/property law/social and behavioral sciences” appears to have stalled.

WIPO also remarks that China’s dominance in GenAI IP does not necessarily reflect significant technological breakthroughs, as many patents and papers lack substantive innovation.

Nevertheless, China may have seized an early lead, having prioritized AI research for years, while the United States only in 2023 issued an executive order urging leadership in harnessing AI opportunities and managing AI risks.

The order, issued under the “Executive Order on Safe, Reliable, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence,” aims primarily to prevent AI‑related harms rather than to promote further R&D.