Between IP and AI: Generative AI continues to grow

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), as is becoming increasingly clear, is no longer merely a technological trend. It is a revolution that is transforming industries, reshaping business models, and disrupting the labor market. It is penetrating almost every field - from software and content development to finance and medicine - and confronting businesses and regulators alike with fundamental questions: Who will lead the transformation, who will be left behind, and how, in practice, will humanity develop and advance in the future?A new report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on patents in the field of generative AI confirms the view that this is indeed a revolution and presents fascinating data on the relationship between intellectual property and technological development.The report's key findings indicate that 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. Moreover, GenAI patents now account for 8.7% of all AI patent families, up from 6.1% in 2023.The West Is Closing the Gap with ChinaOther interesting data in the report concern the geographic - or geopolitical, if you will - distribution of GenAI patents. The report shows that China still leads in the field's total volume of patents, but growth has become more global, with sharp increases also recorded in the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland.China published more than 43,000 patent families in 2024 and 2025 combined and still outpaces the other major powers. However, the United States is an important second hub, rising from approximately 1,185 families in 2023 to more than 4,380 in 2025. Japan recorded the sharpest leap, with an impressive annual growth rate of 210%, while Germany overtook the United Kingdom to become Europe's leader in the field.Incidentally, one reason for Japan's growth is the number of patents filed by the Tokyo-based Japanese corporation SoftBank Group Corp., which, according to the report, has become the world's largest holder of GenAI patents. The corporation now has 2,985 patent families in the field, nearly all of which were filed in 2023 and published in 2025.This is also an appropriate point to note that the corporation has made significant investments in prominent Israeli companies such as Wiz, OurCrowd, Redis, and Lemonade, focusing on cybersecurity, fintech, and artificial intelligence.Building a Continuum from Research to Commercialization and AdoptionAnd what about Israel? Israel is deeply embedded in the AI arena in terms of human capital and innovation, but it does not stand out on the global patent map in this particular report. We know from the 2025 annual report of Israel's National Council for Civilian Research and Development that Israel ranks second worldwide in the number of AI patent applications per capita, after South Korea. Nevertheless, the growth rate of applications from Israel is significantly lower than that of countries such as Sweden, Germany, and Korea. Foreign R&D centers and international technology giants lead inventive activity in Israel in this field, ahead of local companies.I tend to agree with the Council's chair, Prof. Nava Ratzon, that the test is not merely how many patents Israel produces, but how many of them translate into growing companies and high-quality jobs.Prof. Ratzon also pointed to the need for a multiyear, properly funded national AI program that would set measurable targets and create a continuum from research through commercialization to adoption, while strengthening infrastructure and human capital. One objective she identifies as a national need is accelerating technology adoption across every sector of the economy in order to improve productivity and provide citizens with better public services.Patents and the Market Go Hand in HandSo what can be inferred from the report?First and foremost, this is an exceptional, almost exponential, pace of growth - one that signals not only a rapid expansion of patenting activity, but a genuine technological leap. WIPO shows 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.The broader implication is that intellectual property is no longer merely a predictor of future trends; in the case of GenAI, it reflects a market that is already well into the adoption phase. Whereas patents once preceded the market by years, here the pace of patent filings indicates that the technology is already embedded in development, productization, and commercialization processes, rather than remaining only at an early stage of maturation.In other words, AI is reaching markets with extraordinary speed and being adopted at a much faster rate than in other technology fields, where patents still precede commercial maturity. This is the case, for example, in medical devices or highly regulated sectors, where time, trials, and adaptation are required before broad market entry.Moreover, the GenAI surge is not only a story of software and models, but also of a new infrastructure industry: chips, memory, storage, server farms, and cooling and energy solutions. As systems become more resource-intensive, faster, and more versatile, pressure on the hardware industries and power systems increases, and innovation effectively shifts from the model itself to the entire operational ecosystem surrounding it.The Beginning of a Profound RevolutionWhat comes next?The report indicates that GenAI is already being applied across an extremely broad range of uses and is expected to deepen its presence in industries such as manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and energy. This suggests that the picture is even broader: AI's impact will not stop at the software market, but will extend into the deeper layers of the economy, infrastructure, and manufacturing. We can already see how AI is transforming fields such as medicine, agriculture, foodtech, and agritech - not only as an automation tool, but 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. We are already seeing collaborations between pharmaceutical companies and AI companies, and the direction is shifting from targeted efficiency gains to a profound transformation of the entire development chain.In agriculture, foodtech, and agritech as well, the impact is becoming increasingly pronounced. The use of AI to analyze field data, monitor conditions in real time, manage farms intelligently, and optimize inputs is already enabling higher yields, less waste, and greater efficiency. The next stage will be systems that translate data into action in near real time. In this sense, GenAI is not merely an engine of technological innovation, but a cross-cutting infrastructure that will affect how entire industries produce, develop, and operate.Looking ahead - or, in fact, already in the present - the WIPO report points to GenAI's continued expansion into new, rapidly developing areas such as AI agents, reasoning models, and multimodal systems. The report estimates that as the technology continues to penetrate healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and energy, the connection between AI innovation and the core industries of the real economy will grow stronger.In conclusion, it seems that we are only at the beginning of a profound revolution that will affect all of humanity. AI is expected to continue developing rapidly and fundamentally change the way we work, learn, create, consume services, and manage businesses. In this new reality, intellectual property will have an especially central role: it will continue to protect inventors, reward genuine innovation, and encourage continued creation and development for the benefit of humanity as a whole.The author is CEO of The Luzzatto Group, Israel's longest-established intellectual property group, which is marking its 157th anniversary this year.