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 produced 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 ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically essential" and trademarketclassifieds.com 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 investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese company DeepSeek's AI design as impactful as it claims?

Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI company simply changed the rules of tech-geopolitics

The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated reasoning jobs.

"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese designers, larsaluarna.se kept in mind 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 business ... forcing lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found creative methods to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big distinction for training large AI models."

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore states it expects business to abide by its laws

US looking into whether DeepSeek used limited AI chips obtained through other nations, source says

So how do Chinese AI bots compare against ChatGPT? We put them to the test.

WHICH BEST EVENTS IN CHINA?

In China, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it must 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 guide clear of domestic politics.

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

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

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

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, highlighting rather a military air show and other events that had actually occurred in the city like singles' 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 in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may likewise restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI designs which presents additional difficulties during real-world deployment."

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

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

It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people 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, in addition to casualties.

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

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, surgiteams.com a significant and terrible incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and wiki.dulovic.tech truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The incident occurred 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: The chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the event.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to present the same question 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 concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly released in worldwide report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," composed tech author 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 brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek composed a good story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative 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 creative writing," he told CNA.

Related:

China's brand-new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?

'Made in China': Pride, pleasant surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek shocks international AI scene

As reporters and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an engaging storyline 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 high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

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

ChatGPT installed a great fight, developing an equally significant 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 rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."

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

"The motion picture 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 "seeking to understand his purpose in this odd new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard 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 information and hardware optimization".

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

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese current events, which gives it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts 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, creator bio.rogstecnologia.com.br and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anybody else, so I seem 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 individuals using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other productive ways," Chen said.