Tsinghua University has secured over 4,986 AI and machine learning patents since 2005, surpassing the combined total of MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard. This milestone underscores China’s growing dominance in AI innovation, with the nation holding over half of the world’s active patent families in the field. According to data from LexisNexis, the Beijing-based institution has received more than 900 patents in 2024 alone, contributing to its impressive total.
While the U.S. still leads in influential AI patents and top-performing models, American institutions produced 40 notable AI models in 2024 compared to 15 from Chinese organizations, according to Stanford’s AI Index Report. China’s share of the world’s elite AI researchers — the top 2% — rose from 10% in 2019 to 26% in 2022, while the U.S. share fell from 35% to 28% during the same period, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. This shift highlights the changing dynamics in global AI research and development, with Chinese institutions making significant strides.