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: setiathome.berkeley.edu 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 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 "tactically important" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", it-viking.ch said Chen Qiheng, an associated 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 revealed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "encouraged" the concept that smaller sized players like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research and developments, he includes.

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

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling sophisticated reasoning jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese developers, noted 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 numerous to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative ways to enhance or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge difference for training huge 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, subjects considered delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

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

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

The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually taken location, wiki.whenparked.com highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which postures extra challenges throughout real-world release."

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

That sought multiple duplicated attempts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, 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 performing a thorough investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple 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, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at roughly 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.

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

Investigation: The police are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and classificados.diariodovale.com.br scenarios surrounding the incident.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to present 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 took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified response also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely published in global report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."

Opinions, higgledy-piggledy.xyz though, differ.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative 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 standard sci-fi film 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 created an interesting storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It included elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float 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 stolen 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 set up a great battle, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk storyline which likewise 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

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

"The movie starts 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 brand-new truth and "looking for to comprehend his function in this strange brand-new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including 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 simply reproducing Western paradigms, however rather progressing in affordable development approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that produced a more engaging and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate responses to questions about Chinese current events, which offers 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, creator and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

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

Independent Beijing-based expert 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 attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.