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, yewiki.org Chinese startup 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'S BEHIND 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 been "years in the making", larsaluarna.se 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 sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "encouraged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new data.

2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced reasoning tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

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

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found imaginative ways to optimize or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge distinction for training large AI models."

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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, topics deemed delicate 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 conflicts or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to stay away from 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"

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

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later.

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

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

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might likewise limit its adaptability (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 established AI designs which presents additional obstacles during real-world release."

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

That wanted numerous repeated efforts - four prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

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

However, it wrote that "the authorities are performing a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the 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 collared by the police.

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

Investigation: The authorities are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the occurrence.

If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the event, feel complimentary to ask.

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

The modified action likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, larsaluarna.se ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly published in worldwide report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek composed a good story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, however, differ.

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 tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.

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As reporters and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of intricate 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 "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up an excellent fight, creating a similarly remarkable cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that seemed more fit for an animation film.

"The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new reality and "seeking to understand his function in this odd 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 protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "hard to make a definitive statement" 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 designs are not simply replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-efficient innovation methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more engaging and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese present events, which provides it an included advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing 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 study company Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, 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 per cent of individuals 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 ways," Chen said.