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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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 associated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the concept that smaller sized players 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 an unique feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from new information.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs tackling sophisticated reasoning jobs.

"We could see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research study," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical ways to use generative AI to jobs and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, setiathome.berkeley.edu an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business ... forcing numerous to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative methods to optimize or utilize more basic hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training extremely large 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, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

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

The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI models which presents additional obstacles during real-world implementation."

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

That was after several duplicated efforts - four triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also 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 police are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile 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 occurred 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the police.

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the injured to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The police are performing a comprehensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to posture the same question 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 transformed response likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been widely released in worldwide 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 provide structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more introspective 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 constructs gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen believes 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 tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.

Related:

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As reporters and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

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

It included sophisticated 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 brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up an excellent fight, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk storyline which likewise 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 common as ancient misconceptions."

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

"The film starts 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 brand-new reality and "seeking to comprehend his function in this unusual new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in cost-effective innovation approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual actions to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which gives it an included advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing 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 given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - just like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, specifically for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.