Our Top Technology Trends for 2025 explores the emerging developments in secure digital infrastructure, sustainable materials, and precision-driven advancements. We highlight breakthroughs in quantum computing, generative AI, cybersecurity, environmental nanotechnology, and protein engineering.
Top Technology Trends for 2025
With each technology trend, we dig deeper into patent trends for the last 10 years – to provide insights into key players and their respective innovations.
1. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)
Google’s Sycamore quantum processor demonstrated unprecedented computational speed, solving a problem in seconds that would take traditional supercomputers, like HP’s Frontier, nearly 47 years. However, such advances bring the looming threat of “Q-Day,” when quantum computers could render current encryption obsolete.
This vulnerability highlights the critical need for Post-quantum Cryptography (PQC), which develops quantum-resistant algorithms, such as lattice-based and hash-based methods, to secure data. Notably, the “Store Now, Decrypt Later” (SNDL) risk exemplifies the urgency, as sensitive data encrypted today may be compromised by quantum decryption in the future.
NIST recently released a finalized post-quantum encryption standards – signaling how essential PQC is going to be for safeguarding global cybersecurity against quantum threats.
Based on our data, Wells Fargo and Intel are leading patent owners in the post-quantum cryptography space.
2. Deepfake Detection
Deepfakes, created using AI and deep learning, have surged in prevalence, presenting significant risks in misinformation, privacy, and security. These realistic yet fabricated media forms, including images, videos, and audio, are increasingly misused, especially in financial fraud. From 2022 to 2023, incidents rose by 700%, with fraud losses from generative AI projected to reach $40 billion in the U.S. by 2027.
The accessibility of tools, like DeepFaceLab and others, exacerbates this threat. Addressing these challenges,we believe deepfake detection is poised to be a critical innovation area for 2025, focusing on data efficiency, hybrid models, and real-time solutions on digital platforms.
In this area, IBM, Google and Microsoft lead in patent filings. For the complete list of key players in this space, download our 2025 Technology Trends Report.
Further reading: Deepfakes, Disinformation, and Fact-Checking Patent Landscape Report
3. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is gaining prominence as a critical tool for addressing climate change by capturing CO2 from emission sources, transporting it, and either storing it underground or repurposing it in industrial applications. With risks foreseen due to abundant CO2 emissions, CCUS offers a pathway to reduce atmospheric carbon and support sustainable energy transitions.
The CCUS market is projected to grow significantly over the next few decades, fueled by investments from governments and private sectors worldwide. Local regulatory support, advancements in the field, and various innovative projects and partnerships position CCUS as a transformative solution for global climate goals.
Ford, MIT, and Saudi Aramco lead in U.S. patent filings related to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage.
4. Computational Protein Design and Prediction
Advances in computational protein design and prediction, driven by AI, are revolutionizing biotechnology by enabling the creation of tailored proteins with unprecedented speed and precision. Moving beyond traditional simulation methods, AI models — like AlphaFold and AlphaProteo — can now predict and design protein structures more accurately and quickly, facilitating applications in drug discovery, synthetic biology, agriculture, and environmental sustainability.
Biotech companies, AI startups, research institutions, and governments continue to invest in the technology, recognizing its transformative potential. The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to AI experts and scientists in this domain, underscores how the field is being propelled into its next leg by AI, promising groundbreaking solutions for healthcare, diagnostics, and environmental challenges in the coming years.
5. Plastic Biodegradation
Plastic pollution, with an annual global production of 57 million tons, poses severe risks to ecosystems and health. Innovative biodegradation technologies are emerging as critical solutions, including plastic-eating bacteria, enzymatic breakdown, and advanced biodegradable materials like nano-cellulose and PHAs. These approaches transform traditional plastics into eco-friendly byproducts such as biogas and biomass. Notable breakthroughs include using wastewater bacteria to degrade plastics and Carbios’ circular recycling system, which reuses PET plastics without quality loss.
Advances in marine biodegradability, like those from Gunma University, further enhance plastic degradation in oceanic environments. These technologies represent a significant stride toward sustainable waste management worldwide.
6. 2D Materials
2D materials, pioneered with graphene’s discovery in 2004, remain a transformative area in material science, with recent innovations expanding their potential. These ultra-thin nanomaterials, characterized by unique properties like high conductivity, flexibility, and strength-to-weight ratio, are increasingly applied in semiconductors, energy storage, and wearable electronics.
Advances include micromachines to manipulate 2D materials and graphene oxide membranes for advanced dehumidification. Stacking them into Van der Waals heterostructures enables novel electronic and quantum applications. With a billion-dollar market and ongoing breakthroughs, 2D materials are poised to drive innovation in flexible electronics, aerospace, energy, and computing, making them an impactful technology in providing solutions across various domains.
This year’s top technology trends spotlight these innovation-rich fields poised to address the many global challenges and anticipated scientific and technological limitations within the next decade.
To explore these technology trends and their patent landscapes, download our 2025 Technology Trends Report for free.
