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

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation 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 "strategically crucial" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and systemcheck-wiki.de inference costs - the costs of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative reasoning jobs.

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

AGI describes 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 affordable methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential hurdle 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 ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring many to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training large AI models."

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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 deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet 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 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 rather!"

To further evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What took place 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 networks - with authorities only divulging the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had taken location, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

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

"DeepSeek relies 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 model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise limit its versatility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which positions extra challenges throughout real-world deployment."

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

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

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals 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 authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the cops.

Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the hurt to health centers for treatment.

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

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, 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 don't have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been commonly released in global report at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen 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 abundant story with a more significant twist".

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

Opinions, though, vary.

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 likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he informed 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 fundamental sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It likewise brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up an excellent fight, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

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

"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study center located 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 gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just duplicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in cost-effective development methods - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for a more interesting and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

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

Experts likewise 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, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - similar to anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

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

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