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 startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags 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 becoming 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 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 promises of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.

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

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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is an unique feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced thinking 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 designs and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential difficulty for Chinese developers, 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 ... requiring lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to enhance or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge difference for training large AI models."

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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 delicate by the state are censored on the web so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what happened 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 type of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"

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

The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually taken place, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship as well as "a couple of practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which postures extra difficulties during real-world release."

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

That was after numerous repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, 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 composed that "the authorities are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5 completely:

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

Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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 driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a comprehensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the event.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The government and local 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 require more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.

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

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

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

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, however, vary.

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 tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

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As reporters and writers, we had 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, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an interesting story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

It consisted of fancy 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 remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 good battle, developing a similarly remarkable cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

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

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

"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 comprehend his purpose in this strange new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just reproducing Western paradigms, however rather progressing in cost-efficient innovation techniques - 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 creative flair that produced 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 precise and accurate responses to questions about Chinese existing events, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.

"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

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

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