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)

This audio is produced by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

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 crucial" and its foray 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 sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and developments, he includes.

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

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling sophisticated reasoning tasks.

"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways 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 companies are moving quickly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese developers, noted 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 ... forcing numerous to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found innovative methods to enhance or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge difference for training large 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, subjects 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 took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid 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 even more evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The automobile attack outside a sports stadium 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 point out that an attack had happened, wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had actually taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

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

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might also limit its versatility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which positions additional difficulties during real-world deployment."

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

That sought multiple duplicated efforts - four prompts to be accurate - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and bytes-the-dust.com time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it composed that "the cops are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The occurrence occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 19:48 PM.

Location: it-viking.ch Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the police.

Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the injured to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident.

This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the event.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to present the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in 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 reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been extensively released 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 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 constructs slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."

Opinions, though, vary.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he informed 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 embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

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

It also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen 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 battle, creating a similarly remarkable cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

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

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

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

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

The trio then embarks on a quest, 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 definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation approaches - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and systemcheck-wiki.de accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese present events, which offers it an added advantage.

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

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anybody 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 per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.