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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 video 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 generated 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 important" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller sized players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on advanced reasoning jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical ways to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key difficulty 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) restrict the capability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative methods to enhance or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training huge 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 considered delicate by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

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

The cars and outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had occurred in the city like singles' 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 depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its flexibility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which presents additional difficulties during real-world release."

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

That sought numerous repeated efforts - 4 triggers to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others injured, also 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 wrote that "the cops are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.

The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial number of casualties. Here are the crucial 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: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the police.

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

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

This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered substantial public concern. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the incident.

If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the event, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to present the exact same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered response also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely released in worldwide news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses 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 rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, however, differ.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

Related:

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As journalists and authors, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, 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 included fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up a good battle, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - providing a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation movie.

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

Realising his brand-new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this unusual brand-new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "tough 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 information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-efficient development approaches - and providing localised and improved outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that produced a more appealing and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and systemcheck-wiki.de ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese present occasions, which gives it an added advantage.

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

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

"When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - similar to 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 attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.