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

China views AI as being "strategically crucial" and its foray 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 accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and trademarketclassifieds.com reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new data.

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative reasoning jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative ways to optimize or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training huge 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, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to avoid domestic politics.

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

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

The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only divulging the death toll a day later.

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

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI designs which postures additional difficulties during real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.

That wanted numerous repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it-viking.ch it composed that "the authorities are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial number of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The event took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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 apprehended by the police.

Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, setiathome.berkeley.edu and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the occurrence.

If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the event, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified action likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been commonly released in worldwide report at the time of the accident - 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 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative 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 standard sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

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

It also brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen 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 become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up an excellent fight, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

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

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

"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new reality and "looking for to comprehend his function in this unusual brand-new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and wiki.whenparked.com Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in economical innovation approaches - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for a more appealing 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 accurate actions to questions about Chinese current occasions, which provides it an added benefit.

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

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

"When given an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing from it."

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

"Ninety percent of individuals 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 methods," Chen said.