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 country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's objective 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 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 removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new information.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with innovative thinking jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.

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

"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business ... forcing numerous to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative ways to enhance or use more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge distinction for training very large AI models."

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So how do Chinese AI bots compare 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 not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what happened 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 type of question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic problems instead!"

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

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

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

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

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might likewise restrict its versatility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which postures additional difficulties throughout real-world deployment."

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

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

It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, likewise 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 wrote that "the authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and setiathome.berkeley.edu awful incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence took place on November 11, it-viking.ch 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 authorities.

Response: The authorities responded quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, wiki.whenparked.com subsequent attempts to position the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed action also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned 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 capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 used 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 delivered a story that builds gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek composed a great story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen believes 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, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

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As reporters and writers, 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 set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting story set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It consisted of 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 traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, 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 "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great fight, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

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

"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "looking for to understand his function in this unusual new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling 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 wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-effective innovation methods - and providing localised and improved outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and factual responses to concerns about Chinese current events, which provides it an included advantage.

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

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm .

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire 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, specifically for Chinese users.

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