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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country into a tech superpower has actually 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 been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed promises of real-world business applications, yewiki.org Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up firms might have roles to play in AI research and developments, he includes.

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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs tackling advanced thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor it-viking.ch at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring many to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training huge 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 sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to guide 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 math, coding, and logic problems rather!"

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

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

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

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

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which postures additional challenges during real-world implementation."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our concern about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.

That sought numerous repeated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, likewise going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it wrote that "the cops are performing a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic incident happened in Zhuhai, engel-und-waisen.de China. According to numerous news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, yewiki.org 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and photorum.eclat-mauve.fr Time: The incident 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 chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the cops.

Response: The cops responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the incident.

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered considerable public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to supply support to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed examination into the incident.

If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel free to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered response also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been extensively released in international news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver 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 delivered a story that builds slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

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

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

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As reporters and authors, pipewiki.org we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "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 float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up an excellent battle, developing a similarly remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous 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 myths."

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

"The motion picture begins 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 "looking for to understand his function in this odd new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, however rather progressing in cost-efficient development techniques - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

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

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

Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using 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 study company Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, 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 specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive methods," Chen said.