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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 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 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 "strategically essential" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for forum.altaycoins.com China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and wiki.dulovic.tech revealed pledges of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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

2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced thinking tasks.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic 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 abilities.

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to use generative AI to tasks and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese developers, noted 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 count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative methods to enhance or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training large 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 deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to avoid 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 logic issues instead!"

To further check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "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 only divulging the death toll a day later on.

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

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

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may likewise restrict its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which positions extra challenges during real-world deployment."

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

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

It eventually communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the cops are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: setiathome.berkeley.edu On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, wiki.eqoarevival.com at around 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and systemcheck-wiki.de 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the authorities.

Response: The authorities reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The police are carrying out a thorough investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The federal government and local authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, to posture the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified reaction likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been extensively published in global news reports 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 "emotionally abundant" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks 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, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.

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As journalists 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 embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also brilliantly reimagined standard 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 "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a good battle, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - providing a story that seemed more suited for an animation film.

"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, classificados.diariodovale.com.br then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new truth and "looking for to understand his purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in cost-efficient development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more appealing and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and factual actions to concerns about Chinese existing 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," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on from it."

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

"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.