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)

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

China views AI as being "tactically crucial" and its venture into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated scientist 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 guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of using a trained design to reason from new data.

2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced thinking jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential 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 ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring numerous to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found innovative methods to enhance or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 type of concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"

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

The cars and larsaluarna.se truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of elements at play, raovatonline.org such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra challenges throughout real-world release."

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

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

It eventually communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the authorities are carrying out a thorough investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous 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, leading to a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The event occurred 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 driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the authorities.

Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for trademarketclassifieds.com treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are performing an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event.

This event was widely reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have been working to supply assistance 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 event, feel free to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to posture 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 happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed reaction also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been widely published in worldwide news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, however, vary.

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

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

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

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

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

It also remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation 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 battle, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous 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 suited for an animation film.

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

Realising his new reality and "seeking to comprehend his function in this strange brand-new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong 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 displayed its own strengths in various 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 progressing in economical innovation methods - and providing localised and improved results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese existing events, which gives it an added benefit.

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, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on from it."

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

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