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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has actually long been President Xi Jinping's objective 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 actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

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

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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced reasoning tasks.

"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for ratemywifey.com 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) restrict the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing lots of to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to optimize or use more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training huge AI designs."

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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 must 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 recommend Chinese chatbots are set to steer clear of domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

To further test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only divulging the death toll a day later on.

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

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of aspects at play, setiathome.berkeley.edu such as censorship in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which poses additional challenges throughout real-world release."

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

That wanted multiple duplicated attempts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others injured, also 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 composed that "the police are performing a thorough examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now dated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable 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 resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the police.

Response: it-viking.ch The authorities responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the event.

If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel free to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the very same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely published in international 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 "emotionally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided 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 constructs gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected 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 considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he informed CNA.

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As and authors, we needed to see this for links.gtanet.com.br ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, 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 included 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 also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up an excellent battle, developing a similarly remarkable cyberpunk story which likewise 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 typical as ancient misconceptions."

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

"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new truth and "seeking to understand his purpose in this weird new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in economical development techniques - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese current events, which offers it an included benefit.

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

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

"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to 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, especially for Chinese users.

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