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)

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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 important" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr 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 pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research 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 using a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI designs tackling advanced thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, systemcheck-wiki.de analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish more advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, forum.pinoo.com.tr 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 many to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative methods to enhance or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference 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 delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic issues rather!"

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

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had happened 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 aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which poses extra difficulties during real-world release."

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

That sought numerous repeated efforts - 4 triggers to be accurate - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 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, as well as casualties.

However, it composed that "the authorities are performing a thorough examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and forum.altaycoins.com truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: larsaluarna.se 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the cops.

Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the incident.

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

Despite initial 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 occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly published in global news reports at the time of the mishap - 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 rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, setiathome.berkeley.edu who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

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

Opinions, however, differ.

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

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

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As reporters and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing story set 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 drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken 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 put up a good fight, creating an equally significant cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring 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 misconceptions."

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

"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study facility 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 odd brand-new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-effective innovation techniques - and providing 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 made for a more engaging and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese current 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, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - simply like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing from it."

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

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