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 startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

This audio is produced by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT'S BEHIND 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 "tactically important" and its venture into the field has 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 removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he includes.

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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced thinking jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential difficulty for genbecle.com Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor 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 depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found innovative ways to enhance or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training extremely big 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 sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what took place 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 kind of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning problems rather!"

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

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

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

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might also limit its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which postures additional difficulties during real-world release."

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

That sought multiple repeated efforts - four prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed 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 cops are performing an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

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

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

Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event.

This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered considerable public concern. The government and regional authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly published in worldwide 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 deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist".

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

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out 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 also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he informed 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 basic sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

It included elaborate 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 conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up a good fight, developing an equally significant which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West".

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

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

"The film 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 truth and "seeking to understand his purpose in this weird new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on 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 "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in economical development techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual responses to concerns about Chinese current events, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after using 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 firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much like anyone 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 utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.