Japan’s Angel Group Co Ltd, a specialist in playing card manufacturing and ‘smart’ gaming tables, has been assessed as leading a global top-10 list of firms – all technology suppliers – granted artificial intelligence (AI)-related patents in gaming.
Angel had 86 worldwide patents in the period from 2010 to 2025. That is according to the inaugural ‘The State of AI in Gaming 2026’, recently published and which cites data sourced from Lens.org, an open-access research database.
In terms of “most-cited AI gambling intellectual property”, the top spot went to Walker Digital LLC, with 345 citations. They referred to a patent held by Walker – a specialist in ‘smart tables’ for live-dealer casino games – for “method and apparatus for planning and customising a gaming experience,” that actually dates back to 2002.
Regarding granted patents, International Game Technology Plc was ranked second with 50 granted, while Light & Wonder Gaming Inc was third, with 37. Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd was tied in ninth spot, with eight.
‘The State of AI in Gaming 2026’ report has been compiled by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ International Gaming Institute and its AI Research Hub, in collaboration with KPMG LLP, a United States-based audit, tax and advisory firm.
The authors stated: “Notably, all of the leading patent holders are technology suppliers to the industry; companies like IGT, Light & Wonder, and [lottery services provider] Scientific Games that develop gaming systems, platforms, and content, rather than operators.
“This suggests that AI innovation, at least as captured through our corpus, is being driven primarily from the supply side of the industry.”
In terms of gaming-related “AI patent activity by country”, the United States was seen leading, with activity relating to 1,304 patents, or 61.4 percent of all that were identified.
The report clarified that it referred to “geographic distribution of AI patent filings in the gambling industry”.
Ranked a distant second with activity concerning 207 patents or 9.7 percent of the aggregate, was the World Intellectual Property Organization. It is a United Nations agency that enables inventors to seek protection in multiple national markets simultaneously.
Third for activity was Australia, with 149, or 7.0 percent. South Korea was ranked fourth, with 99, or 4.7 percent of relevant activity. “European patents” for AI-related gaming were ranked fifth, with 94, or 4.4 percent.
China was in sixth, with 65, or 3.1 percent of activity. Japan was in seventh spot, with 56, or 2.6 percent.
The Philippines was eighth, with 53, or 2.5 percent. Singapore was ninth, with 31, or 1.5 percent. Malaysia was in 11th, with 14, or 0.7 percent.
The report authors noted: “As of 2025, the United States clearly dominates the landscape, accounting for 1,304 filings (61.4 percent) of all AI-related gaming patent documents worldwide.”
The report also quoted Stephen Moore, chief executive of Walker Digital Table Systems, as saying: “The surge in recent AI patent activity by gaming technology suppliers signals a shift toward embedding intelligence in gaming infrastructure, including smart tables.”
He added: “The most influential patents emphasise [player] personalisation and loyalty, underscoring that future competition will centre on delivering more responsive, data-driven player experiences in real time.”
The report authors noted that in the gaming-operator and regulatory sectors of the industry, the report “reveals operators and regulators with high ambitions but significant gaps in governance, oversight, and AI maturity”.