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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 video 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)

This audio is generated 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 goal and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "tactically essential" and its foray 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized 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 cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of utilizing a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 could also see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced reasoning jobs.

"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective methods to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

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

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

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative ways to enhance or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge distinction 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, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", engel-und-waisen.de DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this type of question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

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

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might likewise restrict its adaptability (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which postures extra obstacles throughout real-world deployment."

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

That sought several duplicated efforts - 4 triggers to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are carrying out an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the event", details which is now dated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence took place 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 driver, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.

Response: The authorities responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: bytes-the-dust.com The cops are conducting an extensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and bytes-the-dust.com to guarantee a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

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

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

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly released in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

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

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen believes 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, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.

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As reporters and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi motion picture plot embeded 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 interesting storyline set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

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

It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 installed an excellent battle, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story 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 guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a story that appeared more fit for an animation movie.

"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility situated 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 strange new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-efficient innovation techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese current events, which provides it an added advantage.

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

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

"When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - similar to 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, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety percent of people utilizing 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 ways," Chen said.