Three property and casualty insurers account for the vast majority of artificial intelligence patents filed in the insurance industry over the past decade, highlighting a highly concentrated innovation landscape.
According to data from Evident, State Farm, USAA, and Allstate together represent 77% of all AI-related patents filed by insurers since 2014.
Patent Filing Breakdown Since 2014
Evident’s analysis shows that State Farm has filed 326 AI-related patent applications over the period, making it the most active insurer in AI intellectual property. USAA follows with 218 AI-focused filings, while Allstate has submitted 136 applications.
Beyond these three firms, Evident found that a total of 166 AI patents have been filed by 30 major insurers across North America and Europe since January 2023, indicating broader participation but at significantly lower levels.
Patents Reveal Strategic AI Priorities
“Patents offer a rare window into where insurers are placing their biggest bets on AI,” said Alexandra Mousavizadeh, cofounder and chief executive officer of Evident.
She noted that AI innovation in insurance is overwhelmingly driven by a small group of US-based property and casualty insurers, raising questions about whether intellectual property leadership will remain concentrated or expand across the industry.
Mousavizadeh said insurers now face a strategic choice: whether to build AI patents defensively or use them to actively lead transformation as generative and agentic AI reshape insurance operations.
Focus Areas: Claims and Underwriting Dominate
Evident’s research shows that claims processing and underwriting account for the largest share of insurer AI patents. Customer service ranks second, followed by risk modeling and pricing.
Customer service patents increasingly focus on generative AI applications, while pricing and risk modeling patents remain largely grounded in traditional machine learning approaches rather than newer generative techniques.
Overall, property and casualty insurers hold 89% of all AI patents filed by insurers since 2014, reflecting what Evident describes as a structural advantage in patenting AI-driven systems.
Why P&C Insurers Lead AI Patent Filings
According to Evident, P&C insurers are more likely to develop patent-eligible AI systems because their innovations often involve telematics, Internet of Things–driven risk monitoring, and sensor-based technologies.
These systems more easily meet the “technical contribution” threshold required for patent approval in both the United States and Europe, giving P&C carriers a clearer pathway to intellectual property protection.
Surge in Generative AI, Slow Rise of Agentic AI
Evident found that generative AI patents have grown rapidly, rising from just 4% of insurer AI filings in 2014 to 31% by October 2025. These patents primarily focus on customer service and claims automation.
Agentic AI, which involves autonomous systems capable of acting independently, remains rare. Only three insurers have filed agentic AI patents so far, with USAA leading in that category.
Despite rising interest in generative AI, overall insurer patent activity peaked in 2020 and has not yet fully rebounded, even as insurers expand AI investments.
Debate Over the Role of AI Patents
In its annual AI insurance index, Evident noted that AI patents can encourage innovation by protecting research investments. However, the firm also highlighted growing tension between patent-driven strategies and the open-source culture that has fueled rapid AI development.
Evident warned that overly broad or aggressive patent filings could undermine collaboration and slow innovation in a field that relies heavily on shared research, data, and transparent benchmarks.
Examples of Notable Insurance AI Patents
Evident’s tracker highlights several representative patents across the industry:
- USAA: Generative AI systems that clarify aerial imagery for property damage assessment
- State Farm: Machine learning tools for claims triage and autonomous vehicle fault analysis
- Allstate: In-vehicle AI assistants that automate claims and enable behavior-based discounts
- Swiss Re: Predictive analytics for medical data and anomaly detection
- MassMutual: Interpretable underwriting models and AI-tagged document indexing
- Liberty Mutual: AI-generated release notes for engineering teams
- Zurich Insurance Group: AI systems for standardizing and validating address data
What Comes Next for Insurance AI Patents
Mousavizadeh said Evident expects agentic AI patent activity to increase in 2026, with insurers focusing on system-level designs, multi-agent coordination, and continuous feedback loops.
These developments are likely to emerge first in high-impact areas such as underwriting and claims handling, where insurers are already seeing tangible value from AI-driven automation and decision support.
