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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 important" and its venture into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and developments, he includes.

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The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from new data.

2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs taking on advanced reasoning jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential obstacle 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 ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training large 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 sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place 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 kind of question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic issues instead!"

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

The vehicle attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

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

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its versatility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which postures additional obstacles during real-world release."

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

That wanted numerous duplicated attempts - four prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others hurt, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it composed that "the authorities are conducting a thorough examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The event occurred on November 11, 2024, at roughly 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the authorities.

Response: The cops responded rapidly to the scene, and engel-und-waisen.de emergency situation services worked to transport the hurt to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a thorough investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to present the very same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been commonly released in global 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 "emotionally rich" writing.

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

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

"DeepSeek wrote a great story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, hb9lc.org however, differ.

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

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

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As journalists 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 movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created 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 included fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a good battle, creating an equally dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

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

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

"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new reality and "seeking to understand his function in this weird new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in cost-effective development methods - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and factual responses to concerns about Chinese existing events, which provides it an included advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

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

"When offered an option, Chinese users want 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 per cent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other productive means," Chen said.