Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) patents are reaching a new milestone, according to World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). More new patents were published in 2024 and 2025 than in the entire preceding ten years combined. Six of the world’s top ten GenAI patent applicants are based in China. Alphabet, Microsoft and IBM from the US are also in the top ten.
“Our data shows that Gen-AI patents are no longer just being filed by tech companies but also by large enterprises in areas like finance, telecommunications, infrastructure and other digital services. While the initial impact of Gen-AI has been on content, the next frontier will be in its impact on the way we innovate”, WIPO says.
“China remains the world’s largest source of GenAI patent publications by a substantial margin, with over 43,000 patent families published by China-based inventors in 2024 and 2025. China’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for GenAI patent families between 2023 and 2025 stands at 64%”, WIPO says.
“The US recorded a 92% CAGR over the same period, as the wave of commercial GenAI development by American companies began to translate into accelerating patent activity.”
Japan recorded the highest relative growth rate of any top inventor location – a 210% CAGR – rising from fourth to third place globally.
“Germany has overtaken the United Kingdom as Europe’s leading GenAI inventor location, with an 85% CAGR. Canada and Switzerland also recorded triple-digit growth rates (109% CAGR, and 124%, retrospectively).
Seven of the world’s top 10 inventor locations published more GenAI patent families in the last two years than in the entire preceding decade, WIPO says.
“The findings underscore the growing strategic importance of intellectual property in the GenAI economy. For policymakers, businesses and IP professionals monitoring of patenting data provides valuable insight into where innovation is accelerating, which technologies are gaining traction and how competitive dynamics are evolving in one of the fastest-moving fields of innovation ever observed.”
The data shows that published GenAI patents rose from approximately 14,000 in 2023 to over 37,800 in 2025. More than 56,000 new were published in 2024 and 2025 combined, exceeding the cumulative output of the period from 2014 to 2023.
GenAI now accounts for 8.7% of all AI-related patent family publications, up from 6.1% in 2023 and 4.2% in 2017.
WIPO says that the race to protect generative AI inventions is increasingly being led by large multinational enterprises operating across diverse industries.
Japan’s SoftBank is the world’s leading GenAI patent applicant, publishing nearly 3,000 during 2024 and 2025.
This is followed by China’s Tencent Holdings, Ping An Insurance Group and Baidu, alongside research institutions and infrastructure companies.
“Our data shows that Gen-AI patents are no longer just being filed by tech companies but also by large enterprises in areas like finance, telecommunications, infrastructure and other digital services. While the initial impact of Gen-AI has been on content, the next frontier will be in its impact on the way we innovate.
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