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: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA’S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has actually 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 essential” and its foray into the field has been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

Private and hb9lc.org public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s increase that truly “urged” the concept that smaller players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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The “focus on cost benefit” is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research study,” Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, setiathome.berkeley.edu access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia’s innovative AI chips, remains a crucial hurdle for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor 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 options which can slow training and decrease design capabilities,” she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 concern yet. Let’s chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!“

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

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

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had happened in the city like singles’ 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 in addition to “a few useful constraints”.

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated,” she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which positions extra obstacles throughout real-world deployment.“

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba’s chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.

That was after multiple repeated efforts - four prompts to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 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, in addition to casualties.

However, it wrote that “the authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence”, details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, engel-und-waisen.de 2024, a significant and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The occurrence took place 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 chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the cops.

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

Investigation: The authorities are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to supply support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position 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 took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The altered response likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

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

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even “mentally abundant” writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story,” composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, garagesale.es who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from curiosity to seriousness, 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 eventually “crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist”.

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option.“

Opinions, bytes-the-dust.com though, vary.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative writing.

”(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing,” he told CNA.

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As journalists 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 movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an appealing story embeded in the year 2145 titled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing”.

It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms”.

It likewise brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as “a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 battle, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk story 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 rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions.“

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a storyline that appeared more fit for an animation film.

"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research facility situated in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new reality and “seeking to comprehend his purpose in this odd new world”, he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and - “each battling with their own existential crises”.

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was “hard to make a definitive declaration” about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-efficient development techniques - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek’s sci-fi movie plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT’s efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese present events, which offers it an included advantage.

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

"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints,” kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

"When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anybody else, so I seem 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, particularly 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 utilizing it for other efficient means,” Chen said.