The number of patent filings in artificial intelligence (AI) in China picked up in the last decade with the number rising to 94,539 in 2018, up 10 times from 2010, according to an industry report.

　　Domestic technology giant Baidu Inc. led in terms of numbers with 5,712 filings, followed by Tencent, Microsoft, Inspur and Huawei, read the report released by the China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team.

　　As of October, China had outshone the US in the applications for AI patents.

　　The report also pointed out that AI has become an important technology for industrial upgrading led by companies like Baidu and institutions of higher education being the backbone of the industry' development.