According to Statista’s data analysis, Tencent and Baidu currently hold the largest number of active AI and machine learning patent families, surpassing technology conglomerate IBM, electronics manufacturer Samsung, Chinese insurance company Ping An, and former AI patent leader Microsoft.
Notably, Microsoft’s substantial investment in AI technology is starting to show results, as evidenced by the recent success of the conversational AI bot, ChatGPT, developed by Microsoft’s partner, OpenAI. Microsoft has recently announced another round of funding for OpenAI, estimated to be worth $10 billion. Based on data from the LexisNexis PatentSight directory, Tencent and Baidu emerged as the leading patent holders in AI and machine learning in 2021, each owning over 9,000 active patent families. A patent family refers to a group of patents that share the same technical content. IBM held more than 7,000 families, while Microsoft held slightly less than 6,000, ranking sixth. Between 2012 and 2019, Microsoft held the largest number of AI patents according to LexisNexis.
The growth in patent ownership by Tencent and Baidu is surpassed by Chinese financial services company Ping An, which saw a surge in its AI patent holdings, growing from less than 50 to over 6,000 patent families in the past five years. Among the AI tools developed by Ping An is software for analyzing facial micro-expressions, which the company uses to evaluate insurance claims submitted by video.