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 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 crucial" 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 China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

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

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs tackling advanced thinking jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to apply generative AI to jobs and develop more sophisticated items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business ... forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found creative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training really big 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 ought to come as not a 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 configured 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 logic problems instead!"

To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

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

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually taken place, highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had occurred 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 depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which postures additional difficulties during real-world deployment."

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

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

It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and mediawiki.hcah.in age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible occurrence occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The event 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 chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the cops.

Response: The cops responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public concern. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the event.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position 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 response likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively published in global news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

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

"DeepSeek composed a great story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform 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 imaginative 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 fundamental sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting story set 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 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 battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a good fight, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

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

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

Realising his new reality and "seeking to understand his function in this odd new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each showed 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 reproducing Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient development techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more engaging and imaginative 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 questions about Chinese current events, which provides it an added advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

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

"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just like anyone 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, specifically for Chinese users.

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