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 start-up DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
This audio is produced by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags 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 venture into the field has actually 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.
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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new data.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on advanced reasoning jobs.
"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen included.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more innovative products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a crucial hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor higgledy-piggledy.xyz at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered creative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training huge 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 considered delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell 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 question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!"
To further evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which postures additional challenges throughout real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.
That was after multiple repeated attempts - four triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots 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 police are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.
The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: The incident occurred 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 driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), setiathome.berkeley.edu was apprehended by the police.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are carrying out an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered considerable public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the event, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to present the same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed response likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been commonly published in global news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a good story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."
Opinions, though, vary.
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 tasks, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.
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As reporters and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing storyline embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It likewise remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT set up a good fight, coming up with an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a story that seemed more suited for an animation movie.
"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new reality and "looking for to understand his function in this weird new world", he then escapes and hb9lc.org fulfills Zhu Bajie and - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "hard to make a definitive declaration" 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 simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development methods - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique 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 narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and factual reactions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which offers it an added benefit.
Experts likewise 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, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much 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, specifically for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of individuals using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Adrianna Jenkins edited this page 6 days ago