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 start-up 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?

Transforming 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 important" 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 accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the concept that smaller sized gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to reason from new information.

2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced reasoning tasks.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with clinical research study," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

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

"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative methods to enhance or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge distinction for training huge AI designs."

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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, topics considered 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 disagreements or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to stay away from domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!"

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

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may also limit its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra challenges during real-world implementation."

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

That sought multiple repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are performing a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial number of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: 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: trademarketclassifieds.com The chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the authorities.

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

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

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused considerable public issue. The federal government and higgledy-piggledy.xyz regional 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 incident, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to posture the same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered action likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been extensively published in international news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the ability of AI apps to provide structured and pediascape.science even "emotionally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek composed a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, though, differ.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative 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 fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

It included elaborate 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 also brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a great battle, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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 myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that seemed more suited for an animation movie.

"The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research facility located 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 unusual brand-new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not merely reproducing Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-effective innovation methods - and providing localised and enhanced 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 creative flair that produced a more engaging and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and factual responses to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which gives it an added advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing 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 an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."

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

"Ninety per cent of individuals 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.