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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 startup 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'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 ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "tactically important" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to reason from new data.

2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models dealing with sophisticated thinking jobs.

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

AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient ways to use generative AI to jobs and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese designers, 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 business ... forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should 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 suggest Chinese chatbots are set to stay away from 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 issues rather!"

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

The car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing 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 actually happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship along with "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact how quickly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might likewise restrict its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which poses additional challenges during real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, bytes-the-dust.com Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.

That sought numerous repeated efforts - four prompts to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on 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, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the cops.

Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The federal 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 need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified response also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been extensively published in global report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have 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 author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."

Opinions, however, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly 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 strongly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

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As journalists and writers, we had 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, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an appealing story set 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 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 stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up an excellent fight, creating a similarly significant cyberpunk storyline 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 guideline, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a story that seemed more suited for an animation film.

"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study center situated 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 odd new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing the of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "hard to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-effective development methods - and surgiteams.com delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its innovative flair that made for wiki.whenparked.com a more engaging and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and factual actions to questions about Chinese existing events, which offers it an included advantage.

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

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

"When offered a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anyone else, so I feel 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, especially for Chinese users.

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