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 venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.

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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with innovative reasoning jobs.

"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective methods to use generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, noted 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 count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge difference for training large 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, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 mathematics, coding, and logic problems rather!"

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

The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions that had taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with 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 counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how rapidly 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 information may also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which postures extra challenges during real-world release."

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

That wanted numerous repeated attempts - four triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately 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 age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are performing an extensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, wiki.dulovic.tech resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

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

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and worked to transfer the injured to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This event was widely reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in 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 action likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly released in international news reports 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 "mentally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".

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

Opinions, however, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative 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 creative writing," he told 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 standard sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging storyline set 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 high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It likewise remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight 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 set up a great battle, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary 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 myths."

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

"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research facility 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 odd new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem 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 wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely reproducing Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation methods - and providing localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its innovative flair that produced 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 precise and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese current events, which offers it an added benefit.

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

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

"When provided an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on 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 individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're utilizing it for other productive means," Chen said.