Key Takeaways
- Generative AI (GenAI) patent families nearly doubled from 18,862 in 2024 to 37,808 in 2025, pushing GenAI’s share of all AI patents from 6.1 % to 8.7 %.
- China remains the top filer, but the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada and Switzerland posted sharp increases, with Japan’s annual growth rate hitting 210 %.
- SoftBank Group Corp. now holds the world’s largest GenAI patent portfolio (2,985 families), most filed in 2023 and published in 2025.
- Israel ranks second worldwide in AI patent applications per capita, yet its growth lags behind leaders such as Sweden, Germany and South Korea; experts stress the need to turn patents into jobs and companies.
- The surge in GenAI patents signals that the technology is already moving beyond early research into commercialization, with patents reflecting a market that is “well into the adoption phase.”
- Innovation is expanding beyond software to hardware ecosystems—chips, memory, server farms, cooling and energy solutions—driving a broader infrastructure revolution.
- GenAI is poised to reshape manufacturing, finance, healthcare, energy and agritech, acting as a cross‑cutting partner in decision‑making and process optimization.
- A sustained, funded national AI strategy that links research, commercialization and adoption is viewed as essential for translating intellectual property into economic and social benefits.
Generative AI as a Transformative Revolution
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has moved well beyond a passing trend and is now “a revolution that is transforming industries, reshaping business models, and disrupting the labor market.” The technology is penetrating software, content development, finance, medicine and countless other sectors, forcing businesses and regulators to confront fundamental questions about leadership, equity and the future trajectory of human advancement.
WIPO Report Highlights Explosive Patent Growth
A new World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) report on patents in the field of generative AI confirms the revolutionary scale of the shift. According to the report, “the growth rate of GenAI patents rose sharply over the past year, and the number of patent families in the field nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, from 18,862 to 37,808.” Consequently, GenAI patents now constitute 8.7 % of all AI patent families, up from 6.1 % in 2023.
Geographic Shifts: China Still Leads, but the Gap Narrows
The WIPO data reveal a changing geopolitical landscape. China continues to lead in total volume, publishing “more than 43,000 patent families in 2024 and 2025 combined.” Yet growth has become more global: the United States rose from roughly 1,185 families in 2023 to over 4,380 in 2025; Japan posted an “impressive annual growth rate of 210 %”; Germany overtook the United Kingdom to become Europe’s leader; and notable increases were also recorded in Canada and Switzerland.
SoftBank’s Dominance and Strategic Investments
One driver of Japan’s surge is the patent activity of SoftBank Group Corp. The WIPO report notes that SoftBank “has become the world’s largest holder of GenAI patents,” with “2,985 patent families in the field, nearly all of which were filed in 2023 and published in 2025.” Beyond patents, SoftBank has made “significant investments in prominent Israeli companies such as Wiz, OurCrowd, Redis, and Lemonade,” focusing on cybersecurity, fintech and artificial intelligence, underscoring its broader ecosystem play.
Israel’s Per‑Capita Strength and the Jobs‑Versus‑Patents Debate
Israel is “deeply embedded in the AI arena in terms of human capital and innovation,” ranking “second worldwide in the number of AI patent applications per capita, after South Korea.” However, the growth rate of Israeli applications lags behind that of Sweden, Germany and South Korea. As Prof. Nava Ratzon, chair of Israel’s National Council for Civilian Research and Development, observes, “the test is not merely how many patents Israel produces, but how many of them translate into growing companies and high‑quality jobs.” She advocates for a multiyear, properly funded national AI program that sets measurable targets and creates a continuum from research through commercialization to adoption, while strengthening infrastructure and human capital.
Patents as a Mirror of Market Adoption
The WIPO findings suggest that intellectual property is no longer merely a predictor of future trends; in GenAI’s case, it reflects a market already well into adoption. The report states that “in just two years, the number of GenAI patent families nearly doubled, and more than 56,000 new families were recorded in 2024‑2025 – more than in the entire preceding decade combined.” This indicates that patents are now filing in tandem with, or even after, commercialization, unlike earlier technology waves where patents preceded market entry by years. The rapid pace shows AI “reaching markets with extraordinary speed and being adopted at a much faster rate than in other technology fields.”
Beyond Software: The Emerging AI‑Infrastructure Nexus
The GenAI surge is not confined to algorithms and models; it is spawning a new infrastructure industry. As systems become more resource‑intensive, pressure mounts on “chips, memory, storage, server farms, and cooling and energy solutions.” Innovation is shifting from the model itself to the entire operational ecosystem surrounding it, driving advances in hardware design, energy efficiency and data‑center architecture. This broader infrastructure layer will be essential to sustain the performance demands of next‑generation GenAI applications.
Future Outlook: Cross‑Sector Impact and the Need for Strategic Policy
Looking ahead, the WIPO report anticipates GenAI’s expansion into manufacturing, finance, healthcare, energy and agritech, where it will act as “an active partner in decision‑making, data analysis, and process optimization.” In drug development, for example, AI is expected to “play an increasingly significant role in designing clinical trials, running simulations, selecting molecules, and reducing both development timelines and the enormous costs involved in bringing a new drug to market.” In agriculture, AI‑driven field‑data analysis promises higher yields, less waste and real‑time farm management. The report concludes that we are “only at the beginning of a profound revolution that will affect all of humanity,” and that intellectual property will continue to protect inventors, reward genuine innovation and encourage creation for the benefit of society—provided that nations adopt strategies linking research, commercialization and widespread adoption.
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/tech-and-start-ups/article-903655