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 created by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 crucial" and its foray 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

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

'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese company DeepSeek's AI design as impactful as it claims?

Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI company just altered the guidelines of tech-geopolitics

The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of using a trained model to reason from new information.

2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with innovative reasoning jobs.

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

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

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

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial 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 companies ... requiring numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower design capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative methods to enhance or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge distinction for training very large AI designs."

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore says it anticipates companies to abide by its laws

US checking out whether DeepSeek utilized restricted AI chips obtained through other countries, source states

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 no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 kind of question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

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

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

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

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

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also restrict its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which presents additional obstacles throughout real-world release."

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

That sought multiple repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to note 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 conducting an extensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The incident happened on November 11, disgaeawiki.info 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 of ages), was collared by the cops.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing an extensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered considerable public issue. The government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the incident.

If you require more detailed details or have particular concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate 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 specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been commonly released in worldwide report at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative 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 innovative writing," he informed CNA.

Related:

China's new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?

'Made in China': Pride, enjoyable surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek jolts global AI scene

As journalists and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, 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 skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, 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, coming up with a similarly dramatic 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation movie.

"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "seeking to comprehend his function in this unusual brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills 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 safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in cost-efficient development approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which provides it an added 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," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anybody 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, specifically for Chinese users.

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