NASDAQ-listed tech giant Baidu has emerged as the leading player in China when it comes to patents on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
A recent study published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) found that Baidu holds the largest number of AI-related patents in the country, at 2,682 in total. In 2020 Baidu also ranked first in terms of AI-related patent applications for the third consecutive year, with 9,364 as of October 2020.
Tencent came second with 8,450 AI-related patent applications, followed by Huawei (7,381) and Inspur (7,052), according to the report prepared by MIIT’s China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team and Electronic Intellectual Property Center.
Baidu also ranked first when it came to patents and patent applications in a number of key AI sub-fields, including deep learning (438 patents and 2,340 applications), natural language processing (377 patents and 1,383 applications), intelligent speech (330 patents and 1,135 applications), autonomous driving (283 patents and 1,928 applications), knowledge graph (242 patents and 884 applications), intelligent recommendations (540 patents and 1,414 applications), and big data for transportation (384 patents and 1,237 applications).
