China has outpaced the United States in the number of worldwide artificial intelligence-related patent applications, according to a new report issued by the China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response team, a research unit under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
China-based companies have applied for a total of more than 440,000 AI patents as of October. Internet search giant Baidu Inc filed 5,712 AI-related patent applications, ranking first in China for the second consecutive year, followed by Tencent (4,115), Microsoft China (3,978), Inspur (3,755) and Huawei (3,656).
The report showed that Baidu is the patent application leader in several key areas of AI, including the deep learning (1,429), natural language processing (938) and speech recognition (933).
The tech behemoth also leads in the highly competitive area of intelligent driving, with 1,237 patent applications, a figure that surpasses leading Chinese universities and research institutions, as well as many foreign automotive companies.
With the launch of the Apollo open source autonomous driving platform and other intelligent driving innovations, Baidu has been committed to pioneering the intelligent transformation of the mobility industry.
"We retained the top spot for AI patent applications in China because of our continuous research and investment in developing AI, as well as our strategic focus on patents," said Victor Liang, vice-president and general counsel of Baidu.
"In the future, we will continue to increase our investment in securing AI patents, especially for high-value and high-quality patents, to provide a solid foundation for Baidu's AI business and for our development of world-leading technology," he added.
After years of research, Baidu has developed a comprehensive AI ecosystem and is now at the forefront of the global AI industry.
It will continue to conduct research in the core areas of AI, contribute to scientific and technological innovation in China, and actively push forward the application of AI into more vertical industries, the company said in a statement.
So far, AI-enabled technologies have been applied in several sectors, such as finance, healthcare, transportation and education. Global consultancy PwC forecasts that AI's contribution to the global economy will leap from $2 trillion in 2018 to $15.7 trillion by 2030.
China has placed great emphasis on tech development, with AI being a key field. The government has laid out plans aimed at building a 1 trillion yuan ($142.1 billion) AI core industry by 2030, which is expected to stimulate related businesses by around 10 trillion yuan.
The report pointed out that AI is taken as an important direction for industrial upgrading, and the country's strategic plan for AI offers a broad space for the research and development of AI technologies and related industries. Moreover, from the perspective of applicants, enterprises such as Baidu and universities have become the main force in driving AI technologies.
It suggested more efforts are needed to strengthen basic AI research and establish intellectual property systems related to AI, as well as introduce high-level talents, in an attempt to grasp the opportunities brought about by AI.
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