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 startup 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 objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically crucial" and its venture into the field has 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and larsaluarna.se reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new information.

2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative thinking tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable 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 innovative AI chips, remains a crucial 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) limit the capability of Chinese tech business ... requiring numerous to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found creative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training really large 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, topics deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to avoid domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic issues instead!"

To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What occurred 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 just divulging the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had happened in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

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

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly 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 may also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which positions additional difficulties during real-world deployment."

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

That wanted multiple duplicated attempts - four prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, 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 composed that "the cops are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", archmageriseswiki.com details which is now obsoleted.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident took place 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, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the police.

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: disgaeawiki.info The cops are performing a thorough investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This occasion was reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The government and setiathome.berkeley.edu regional authorities have been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the incident.

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

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

The transformed response likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively released in international report at the time of the mishap - 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 rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, however, differ.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.

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As reporters 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 motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle 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 an excellent fight, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk storyline 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that appeared more fit for an animation film.

"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research 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 purpose in this odd new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including 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 just replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in economical innovation methods - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its imaginative flair that produced a more engaging 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 setiathome.berkeley.edu accurate actions to concerns about Chinese current events, which offers it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.

"When offered a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anybody else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."

Independent Beijing-based specialist 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 utilizing the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other productive ways," Chen said.