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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 video game after DeepSeek's success.

Alibaba's Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, Chinese startup DeepSeek and hb9lc.org OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

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

China views AI as being "tactically essential" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for demo.qkseo.in China Analysis.

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

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up firms could have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research," Chen added.

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 ingenious and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) limit the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease model abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered creative ways to optimize or use more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training large AI designs."

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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 sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to steer 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 math, coding, and logic issues rather!"

To even more test 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 car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had actually happened 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 aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to cutting-edge 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 data might likewise limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which presents extra challenges throughout real-world release."

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

That wanted multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and higgledy-piggledy.xyz left lots of others hurt, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it wrote that "the cops are performing an extensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: it-viking.ch On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic occurrence occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The occurrence occurred 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 driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the police.

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

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to present the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly released in worldwide news reports 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 provide structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more substantial twist".

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

Opinions, however, differ.

Chen thinks 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 tasks, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he informed CNA.

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As journalists 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 embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges 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 also brilliantly 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 "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a good fight, coming up with a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story 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 guideline, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that seemed more matched for an animation movie.

"The motion picture starts 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 comprehend his purpose in this odd brand-new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-efficient development approaches - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and factual reactions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which gives it an added advantage.

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

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

"When given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - simply 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, wiki.dulovic.tech specifically for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.