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)

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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 crucial" and its foray into the field has actually 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 financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "urged" the idea that smaller players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from new information.

2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with advanced thinking tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, engel-und-waisen.de an associate professor pipewiki.org at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

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

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative ways to optimize or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge distinction 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, subjects deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"

To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, engel-und-waisen.de Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The vehicle attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly 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 actually taken location, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had actually occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as "a couple of useful constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may also restrict its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses extra obstacles throughout real-world release."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our concern about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.

That was after numerous duplicated efforts - four prompts to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, likewise going on to note 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 a comprehensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic occurrence occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and wavedream.wiki Time: The event took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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 chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the police.

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

Investigation: The authorities are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the very same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been widely published in international news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs gradually from interest to seriousness, 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 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.

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

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

It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled 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 bar owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a great battle, creating a similarly significant cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary 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 myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a story that appeared more matched for an animation movie.

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

Realising his new reality and "seeking to comprehend his function in this strange brand-new world", he then leaves and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just reproducing Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

In our tests, each their own special strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and accurate actions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an added benefit.

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

"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, setiathome.berkeley.edu founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to anyone 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 attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.