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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 long been President Xi Jinping's goal and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically essential" and its foray into the field has actually 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 revealed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.

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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 brand-new data.

2025 could also see the development of more Chinese AI models dealing with sophisticated thinking jobs.

"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research study," Chen included.

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

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

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key obstacle 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 count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found creative methods to enhance or use more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training huge AI designs."

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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, topics deemed delicate 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 conflicts or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to guide 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 reasoning problems rather!"

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

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

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

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

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

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

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

That sought numerous repeated attempts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.

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

However, it composed that "the cops are carrying out a thorough investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The event happened 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 motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The cops reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The police are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed examination into the event.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to posture the same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been extensively published in global news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds gradually from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected 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, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek composed a great story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen believes 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 also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.

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As reporters 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 motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, trademarketclassifieds.com Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging storyline embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "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 float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great fight, coming up with an equally remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

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

"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "looking for to comprehend his function in this weird new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just reproducing Western paradigms, however rather progressing in affordable innovation techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its innovative flair that produced 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, offers precise and factual actions to concerns about Chinese existing events, which offers it an added benefit.

Experts also 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 firm Strategy Risks.

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