New data from Evident’s Insurance AI Patent Tracker shows that AI innovation in the insurance sector remains highly concentrated. Three United States Property and Casualty insurers, State Farm, USAA, and Allstate, account for 77% of all AI patents filed over the past decade.
Since January 2023, 30 major insurers across North America and Europe have filed 166 AI patents. Although interest in generative AI has increased for claims and customer service, filings remain 30% below the 2020 peak.
Property and casualty insurers continue to dominate AI patent activity. The report shows that they hold 89% of all filings. Much of this innovation centers on telematics, IoT-driven risk monitoring, and other sensor-based systems that meet the technical contribution requirements for patent eligibility in the United States and Europe.
Generative AI patents rose significantly. They increased from 4% of filings to 31% in 2023. However, agentic AI remains uncommon. Only three insurers have pursued patents in this field, with USAA leading activity.
Strategic Applications and Competitive Implications for the Industry
The report highlights several notable applications. USAA is using generative AI to analyze aerial imagery for property damage assessment. State Farm employs machine learning for claims triage and autonomous vehicle fault analysis. Allstate has developed an in-vehicle AI assistant to automate claims and an interpretable AI for underwriting and document indexing. Liberty Mutual utilizes generative AI to generate release notes for its engineering teams. Zurich Insurance Group has created an AI system that standardizes and clears user-typed addresses.
From an industry standpoint, the concentration of AI patent filings reflects competitive and strategic implications. Leading P&C insurers are leveraging intellectual property to safeguard investments in emerging AI technologies that enhance claims processing, underwriting, and customer engagement. For smaller insurers, the patent gap indicates a potential challenge in keeping pace with competitors that are deploying AI-driven operational efficiencies.
Evident noted that the sector faces a critical decision about whether AI patents will remain concentrated among a few frontrunners or develop into a broader competitive tool. As generative and agentic AI reshape the value chain, insurers will need to determine whether to adopt intellectual property defensively or invest proactively to advance innovation across claims, risk management, and customer experience.
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