
Since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, tech companies around the world have focused efforts on developing generative artificial intelligence models to power a range of tasks from search to virtual assistance.
The AI boom has also led to an increase in the number of related patents filed. Gen-AI patent families — or a group of patents related to the same invention — grew from 733 in 2014 to over 14,000 in 2023, according to the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
While the U.S. aims to curb China’s AI developments through trade restrictions, Chinese corporations outnumber U.S. companies when it comes to ownership of gen-AI patents, according to the data.
Here are the top 10 companies in the world by ownership of gen-AI patents, according to WIPO.