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 video 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)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

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

China views AI as being "tactically essential" and its venture into the field has actually 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed promises of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "encouraged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the expenses of using a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI designs taking on advanced reasoning jobs.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research study," Chen included.

AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.

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

"US export controls (still) limit the capability of Chinese tech business ... forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found innovative methods to enhance or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training large AI designs."

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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 considered delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to stay away from domestic politics.

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

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

The car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air show and other that had happened in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship as well as "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which postures additional obstacles during real-world implementation."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai car attack.

That sought several repeated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others injured, engel-und-waisen.de also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the police are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, genbecle.com a major and awful event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, disgaeawiki.info male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 19:48 PM.

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

Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the cops.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the incident.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed response likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively published in international report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek composed a great story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

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As reporters and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It included elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a good fight, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

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

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation movie.

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

Realising his brand-new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this odd new world", he then leaves and pipewiki.org fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing 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 "tough to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in cost-effective development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that made for a more engaging and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual responses to concerns about Chinese existing events, which offers it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

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

"When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much 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, particularly for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other productive methods," Chen said.