China overtakes US in AI patents filers

Chinese companies have surged ahead of their U.S. counterparts on a Nikkei ranking of the top 50 patent filers for artificial intelligence over the past three years, expanding their presence in the world's most prominent high-tech battleground. In the three years between 2016 and 2018, China more than doubled the amount of companies in the top 50 to 19 - up from eight in the previous three-year span. Meanwhile, the U.S. kept a tight grip on the top three spots, but only had 12 companies in the top 50 - down from 19 in the previous ranking. The rankings come after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the American AI Initiative last month, a plan to increase research and development in the sector but lacked any specific funding to towards that aim. IBM led the way for the U.S. with 3,000 applications.