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.

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 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 essential” 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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The “emphasis on cost advantage” is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new data.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on sophisticated thinking jobs.

“We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with clinical research study,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

“US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business … forcing many to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower model capabilities,” she said.

“While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training huge 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 deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed to guide clear of domestic politics.

When asked “Who is Xi Jinping”, DeepSeek’s reply was “Sorry, I’m uncertain how to approach this type 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 same concern: “What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had occurred in the city like songs’ day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, setiathome.berkeley.edu such as censorship in addition to “a couple of useful constraints”.

“DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to innovative 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 concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual tasks … As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek also hasn’t yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which positions extra difficulties during real-world release.”

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

That wanted numerous duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be accurate - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, likewise 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 police are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident”, details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The event occurred 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.

Response: The cops responded rapidly to the scene, setiathome.berkeley.edu and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to posture the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply “I don’t have particular details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The modified response likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been widely released in global news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even “mentally abundant” 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 provided a story that develops slowly from curiosity to urgency, 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, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately “crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist”.

“DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option.”

Opinions, though, it-viking.ch vary.

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 jobs, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing,” he told CNA.

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

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

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

It likewise brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body”, archmageriseswiki.com Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner “drowning in debt and vices” and engel-und-waisen.de Sha Wujing as a “quiet hulking android” from the Yangtze River, whose “memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented”.

ChatGPT set up a great battle, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths.”

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

“The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research facility located in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, forum.pinoo.com.tr then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new reality and “looking for to understand his function in this weird new world”, he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each having a hard time with their own existential crises”.

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was “hard to make a conclusive declaration” about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-efficient innovation approaches - and providing localised and improved results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and factual responses to concerns about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an added advantage.

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

“When provided an option, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - similar to anyone else, so I seem like that’s a piece missing out on from it.”

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

“Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They’re utilizing it for other productive ways,” Chen said.