Artificial Intelligence may be the future of technology and that means the companies which have been investing in R&D in that space are positioning themselves for the next 10 to 20 years. The importance of AI patents cannot be denied as those who own AI may very well own the future.

So we took a look at which companies own the most AI patents. This is a good way to understand how much a company is investing in AI and how seriously they take this opportunity. It should be no surprise that the mega tech companies which are household names lead the list. But it is interesting to note how many Asian companies make the list.

According to IPlytics an IP data company the US still leads the world in AI patents but China is number two and Japan is number four showing the importance of R&D in Asia.

But when we turn to the numbers of patents issued by company, the story becomes even more interesting. Samsung, Sony & Canon all round out the top 10.

• Microsoft, US: 18,365
• IBM, US: 15,046
• Samsung, South Korea: 11,243
• Qualcomm, US: 10,178
• Google, US: 9,536
• Phillips,Netherlands: 7,023
• Siemens, Germany: 6,192 
• Sony, Japan: 5,526 
• Intel, US: 4,464
• Canon, Japan: 3,396

AI patents are important and as such the list above may end up being the most influential companies in the years to come… not that they aren’t right now.