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, disgaeawiki.info 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 and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "tactically essential" 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 removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

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

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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of using a trained design to reason from new information.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling innovative thinking tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key 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) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease model abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training extremely big 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 internet so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed to stay away from domestic politics.

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

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

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions that had occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few practical constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also limit its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses additional difficulties during real-world deployment."

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

That wanted several duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it wrote that "the cops are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the event", details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

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

Date and Time: The occurrence occurred on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: raovatonline.org The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

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

Investigation: The authorities are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event.

This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the event.

If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the event, feel totally free to ask.

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

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been widely released in global news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative 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 fundamental sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great battle, creating a similarly significant 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 guideline, 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 suited for an animation movie.

"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 brand-new reality and "seeking to comprehend his function in this unusual new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

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

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its creative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

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

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts 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 given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - similar to anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on 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 people utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're using it for other efficient methods," Chen said.