The technology industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by the increasing demand for AI-generated content across industries such as media, entertainment, and marketing, alongside the continuous advancements in AI technology and computing power, and growing importance of technologies such as generative adverserial networks (GANs) for realistic content generation, recurrent neural networks (RNNs) for sequential data processing, and reinforcement learning for model refinement. In the last three years alone, there have been over 4.1 million patents filed and granted in the technology industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial intelligence in technology: GenAI models. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilizing and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
190+ innovations will shape the technology industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the technology industry using innovation intensity models built on over 1.5 million patents, there are 190+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, GenAI for design, finite element simulation, and deep reinforcement learning are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. AI in EHR, intelligent predictive maintenance, and forward inferencing are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing.
Innovation S-curve for artificial intelligence in the technology industry
GenAI models is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence
Generative AI models encompass a category of artificial intelligence algorithms and structures crafted to produce novel data akin to, though not identical to, their original training data. Constructed using machine learning methodologies, notably deep learning, these models find application in tasks like creating images, generating text, composing music, and various other creative endeavors.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 2,110+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established technology companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of GenAI models.
Key players in GenAI models – a disruptive innovation in the technology industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to GenAI models
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) | 579 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nvidia | 265 | Unlock Company Profile |
| LG Electronics | 257 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ping An Technology Shenzhen | 104 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ford Global Technologies | 154 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Samsung Electronics | 772 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Robert Bosch | 224 | Unlock Company Profile |
| BOE Technology Group | 149 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) | 97 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Fujitsu | 121 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Huawei Technologies | 289 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NEC LABORATORIES AMERICA | 107 | Unlock Company Profile |
| 312 | Unlock Company Profile | |
| Beijing Baidu Netcom Science Technology | 560 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Siemens Healthcare | 89 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Waymo | 112 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Microsoft Technology Licensing | 179 | Unlock Company Profile |
| GM Global Technology Operations | 80 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Capital One Services | 106 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Illumina | 94 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Adobe Assets | 467 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Qualcomm | 158 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toyota Motor | 79 | Unlock Company Profile |
| KLA | 90 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Siemens | 118 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Apple | 87 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Alibaba Group | 132 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Salesforce | 92 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid Corporation of China | 101 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hitachi | 82 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Meta Platforms | 227 | Unlock Company Profile |
| ADOBE | 479 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Honda Motor | 97 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Southern Power Grid | 81 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Canon | 152 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sony Group | 238 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NVIDIA | 474 | Unlock Company Profile |
| IBM | 598 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Illumina | 99 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toshiba | 104 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NEC | 300 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Intel | 314 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ford Motor | 161 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Magic Leap | 179 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Enlitic | 83 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Beijing SenseTime Technology Development | 272 | Unlock Company Profile |
| X Development | 84 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Stradvision | 331 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Shenzhen Sensetime Technology | 80 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toyota Research Institute | 78 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Among the companies innovating in GenAI models, IBM is one of the leading patents filers. The company’s patents are aimed at the method for a chat system receiving and categorizing user messages into questions, answers, or statements using a classifier. In the case of a question, the system identifies relevant answers from a database and assigns relatedness scores. The top answer is then presented to the user. For answers provided, they are stored in the answer database. The other prominent patent filers in the space include Intel and Stradvision.
In terms of application diversity, Enlitic leads the pack, while Intel and Shanghai Cambricon Information Technology stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographical reach, Enlitic held the top position, followed by Tractable and WaveOne.
GenAI models hold significant importance in the realm of artificial intelligence and creativity. They enable the generation of novel and diverse content, ranging from images to text, revolutionizing industries such as media, entertainment, and marketing, and pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in terms of creative output.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the technology industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
