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 created by an AI tool.

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 objective 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 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 financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models taking on sophisticated thinking jobs.

"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, classificados.diariodovale.com.br access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business ... forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to enhance or use more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training very 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 web so it need 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 suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid 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 even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

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

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had actually occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship as well as "a couple of useful constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might likewise limit its flexibility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which postures additional difficulties throughout real-world implementation."

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

That wanted multiple duplicated efforts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, pipewiki.org details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it wrote that "the police are carrying out an extensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at roughly 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the authorities.

Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to supply support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.

If you require more detailed details or have particular concerns about the event, feel complimentary to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the very same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly released in at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, though, vary.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however 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 had 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 traditional 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 fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It likewise brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great battle, creating an equally significant cyberpunk story 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 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 movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "looking for to understand his function in this odd new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "tough to make a definitive statement" 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 designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient development techniques - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its innovative flair that produced a more interesting 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 responses to questions about Chinese current events, which offers it an included benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts 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 study company Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anyone else, so I feel 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, particularly for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of individuals using 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.