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 start-up DeepSeek and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, 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 long been President Xi Jinping’s goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being “strategically important” and pediascape.science its foray into the field has actually been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that really “urged” the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research study and developments, he includes.

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The “focus on expense advantage” is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling sophisticated reasoning tasks.

“We could see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research study,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts state, building on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to use generative AI to jobs and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

“US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies … forcing numerous to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model abilities,” she said.

“While some business like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training 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, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 question yet. Let’s chat about mathematics, coding, and logic issues instead!”

To further evaluate for bytes-the-dust.com precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: “What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like songs’ 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 as well as “a few practical constraints”.

“DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded,” she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

“Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also restrict its versatility (to bring out) 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 poses extra obstacles throughout real-world deployment.”

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba’s chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.

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

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it wrote that “the authorities are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident”, details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The incident occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 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, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the cops.

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

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the event.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to supply support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply “I don’t have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The altered action likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely published 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 provide structured and even “mentally abundant” writing.

“DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective 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 curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen 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 rich story with a more significant twist”.

“DeepSeek composed a good story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice.”

Opinions, however, differ.

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

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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 basic sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an appealing storyline set in the year 2145 entitled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing”.

It included intricate settings - smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms”.

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

ChatGPT installed a great fight, developing an equally significant cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined “a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West”.

“This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths.”

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

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

Realising his brand-new reality and “looking for to comprehend his purpose in this unusual new world”, he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each having problem with their own existential crises”.

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just reproducing Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical innovation approaches - and providing localised and improved outcomes.

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

DeepSeek’s sci-fi film plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that produced a more engaging and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT’s efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese present events, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using 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 company Strategy Risks.

“When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - just like anyone 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 using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They’re utilizing it for other productive ways,” Chen said.