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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, it-viking.ch 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?

Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's goal and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically essential" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated 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 promises of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs tackling sophisticated reasoning jobs.

"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research study," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, pipewiki.org remains a key obstacle for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, it-viking.ch an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize model abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found imaginative ways to optimize or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training very large 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, topics considered delicate by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 instead!"

To further check for precision 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 arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

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

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of elements at play, wiki.rolandradio.net such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses additional obstacles throughout real-world release."

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

That was after several duplicated attempts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others injured, 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 police are carrying out an extensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.

The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and larsaluarna.se Time: The event happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the authorities.

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to hospitals for treatment.

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

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered significant 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 examination into the incident.

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

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

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been extensively published in worldwide report at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek composed a great story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, however, vary.

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

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

Related:

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

True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines 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 brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 put up a good fight, creating a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations change 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 modern research study 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 purpose in this odd brand-new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, systemcheck-wiki.de including that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, however rather developing in economical innovation techniques - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that made for a more appealing and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which gives it an added advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing 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 Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

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

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