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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, Chinese start-up DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

This audio is created by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation 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 venture 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.

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

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

2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced reasoning tasks.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research study," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated items beyond .

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

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

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to optimize or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big distinction for training huge 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 web so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to steer clear of 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

To further check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, 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 elements at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which postures extra obstacles during real-world implementation."

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

That wanted multiple repeated attempts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the police are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The occurrence occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the police.

Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are carrying out an extensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the event, feel totally free to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered reaction also raised questions 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 provide structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen 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, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".

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

Opinions, yewiki.org though, differ.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he told 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 movie plot embeded 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 interesting storyline embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It included intricate 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 brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken 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 set up a great fight, coming up with an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation film.

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

Realising his brand-new truth and "looking for to comprehend his function in this unusual new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in affordable innovation approaches - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese existing events, which offers it an included benefit.

Experts likewise 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, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - simply like anybody 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, particularly for Chinese users.

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