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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 produced by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

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

China views AI as being "tactically important" 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the concept that smaller sized players like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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

2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models tackling innovative reasoning tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle 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 ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training extremely big AI models."

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

WHICH BEST ADDRESSES CURRENT EVENTS IN CHINA?

In China, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid 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 math, coding, and logic problems rather!"

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

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program and hb9lc.org other occasions that had actually taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

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

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

That sought multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, 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 wrote that "the police are conducting a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, wiki.dulovic.tech male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence 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 quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The police are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This event was widely reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have been working to supply support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, pediascape.science do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered response also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

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

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

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

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

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly 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 strongly as others in creative writing," he told 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 standard sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

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

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

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

ChatGPT put up a good battle, creating a similarly significant cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

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

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

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

Realising his new reality and "seeking to understand his purpose in this odd brand-new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in cost-efficient innovation methods - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that made for a more appealing and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese existing events, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after using 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 firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - similar to anybody else, so I feel 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, especially for Chinese users.

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