NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America secured a record 644 U.S. patents in 2023, up 13% from the previous year, as the lender focused on information security, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, it said on Wednesday.

The second-largest U.S. lender now has 6,600 granted patents or pending applications worldwide, including more than 800 related to AI. Its more than 7,300 inventors span 42 U.S. states and 14 countries.