Chinese tech heavyweight Baidu Inc ranks among the top ten artificial intelligence patent applicants across the globe, as the company has invested heavily in artificial intelligence-related research and development to bolster technological innovation.

Data from US patent service provider IFI Claims showed that Baidu is the only Chinese innovation-oriented enterprise entering the global top ten list in terms of AI patent applications, which covers four fundamental areas such as text, image, voice and video.

Baidu has filed 19,308 AI patent applications by the end of 2023, and has been granted 9,260 patents, topping the list among domestic tech companies for six consecutive years, according to a report from the China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team and the Electronic Intellectual Property Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 

The company has taken the lead in the new-generation AI sector, centered on large language models as it has applied for 1,432 patents in this field, and has been granted 651 such patents, the report said. The Beijing-based tech heavyweight has invested nearly 170 billion yuan ($23.9 billion) in R&D in the past ten years.

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