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)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

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

China views AI as being "strategically important" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

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

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

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

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on advanced reasoning jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial 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 ... forcing lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found imaginative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge distinction for training really big 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, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest 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 type of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic issues rather!"

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

The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

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

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra difficulties during real-world release."

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

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

It eventually relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others hurt, likewise 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 composed that "the cops are performing an extensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: photorum.eclat-mauve.fr The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was by the police.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and wiki.asexuality.org regional authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed examination into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to posture the very same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been extensively released in international report at the time of the accident - so no 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 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek composed a good story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks 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 jobs, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

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As reporters and authors, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "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 fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 an excellent fight, creating an equally significant cyberpunk storyline 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

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

"The film 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 "looking for to comprehend his purpose in this weird new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable innovation methods - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and factual actions to concerns about Chinese present occasions, which offers it an added benefit.

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

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

"When provided an option, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much like anybody else, so I seem 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, especially for Chinese users.

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