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

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "tactically important" 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 China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new data.

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on sophisticated thinking jobs.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways 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 companies are moving quickly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more sophisticated items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, noted 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 companies ... forcing numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative ways to optimize or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training huge 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 considered delicate by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid 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 issues rather!"

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

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

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

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship as well as "a few useful constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also restrict its flexibility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which positions additional challenges throughout real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our concern about the Zhuhai cars and wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de truck attack.

That was after multiple repeated efforts - four triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately 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, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the cops are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de a major and terrible incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident happened 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 motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the authorities.

Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The police are performing a thorough investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to pose the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed response likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been commonly published in international report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts 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 urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more substantial twist".

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

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative 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 imaginative writing," he told 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 basic sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

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

It also brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 installed a good battle, creating a similarly remarkable 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 common as ancient myths."

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

"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "looking for to understand his function in this weird 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 quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including 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 reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in economical development approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its innovative flair that made for 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, provides accurate and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which gives it an included benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

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

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

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

"Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other productive methods," Chen said.