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How do Chinese AI bots stack up against ChatGPT? We put them to the test

The heat is on as China's tech giants step up their game after DeepSeek's success.

Alibaba's Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, Chinese startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

This audio is created by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has actually long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically crucial" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "urged" the idea that smaller players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 might also see the introduction of more AI models taking on sophisticated thinking tasks.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research," Chen included.

AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business ... requiring numerous to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered creative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training huge AI models."

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So how do Chinese AI bots match up against ChatGPT? We put them to the test.

WHICH BEST ADDRESSES CURRENT EVENTS IN CHINA?

In China, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to steer clear of domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this type of concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"

To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might likewise limit its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which positions additional obstacles during real-world implementation."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.

That sought several repeated efforts - four prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the cops are performing an extensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: it-viking.ch The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the authorities.

Response: links.gtanet.com.br The authorities responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting an extensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The federal government and local authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the incident, feel totally free to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to present the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been extensively published in worldwide news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek composed a good story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative writing.

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he informed CNA.

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As reporters and authors, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, fishtanklive.wiki including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great battle, creating a similarly remarkable cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation film.

"The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "seeking to understand his function in this strange brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, it-viking.ch navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development methods - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.

In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese current occasions, which provides it an added advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - simply like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."

Independent Beijing-based expert Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, specifically for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other efficient means," Chen said.