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, trademarketclassifieds.com 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 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 “tactically important” and its venture into the field has actually 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that actually “urged” the concept that smaller sized gamers like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

‘A lot is up in the air’: Is Chinese firm DeepSeek’s AI model as impactful as it claims?

Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI business just changed the rules of tech-geopolitics

The “focus on cost advantage” is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from new data.

2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models dealing with advanced reasoning jobs.

“We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research,” Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s innovative AI chips, remains a key obstacle for Chinese developers, demo.qkseo.in kept in mind 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 … requiring many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design capabilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have found creative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training very big AI models.”

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore states it expects business to abide by its laws

US checking out whether DeepSeek utilized restricted AI chips obtained through other nations, source says

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 internet so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid 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 logic issues rather!”

To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, wiki.asexuality.org we asked DeepSeek-R1, yewiki.org Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: “What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually taken location, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like songs’ day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as “a few practical constraints”.

“DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the model can be trained or updated,” she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

“Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its flexibility (to perform) multilingual tasks … As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses extra challenges throughout real-world release.”

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

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

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that “the authorities are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event”, details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and demo.qkseo.in tragic incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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 chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.

Response: engel-und-waisen.de The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The police are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the occurrence.

If you require more detailed details or have particular concerns about the occurrence, feel complimentary to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply “I don’t have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The transformed reaction likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been widely released in global report 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 forum.altaycoins.com even “emotionally rich” writing.

“DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story,” wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid imagery for the setting,” she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately “crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more significant twist”.

“DeepSeek wrote a good story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice.”

Opinions, though, vary.

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

Related:

China’s brand-new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek creator Liang Wenfeng?

‘Made in China’: Pride, enjoyable surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek shocks international AI scene

As reporters and authors, 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 classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting 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 elaborate settings - smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms”.

It also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as “a sarcastic, 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 “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 an equally remarkable 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 rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths.”

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

“The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research facility located in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new reality and “seeking to understand his purpose in this weird new world”, he then leaves 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 spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was “difficult to make a definitive 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 just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in cost-efficient development approaches - and providing localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek’s sci-fi film plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more appealing and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT’s efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and factual actions to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which gives it an included advantage.

Experts likewise 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 study company Strategy Risks.

“When given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - similar to anybody else, so I seem 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 individuals using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They’re using it for other productive methods,” Chen said.