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’S BEHIND 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 ending up being 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 affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models dealing with sophisticated thinking tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to tasks and bio.rogstecnologia.com.br develop more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese designers, 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 companies … requiring numerous to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower design abilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to enhance or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training huge 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, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!”

To even more test for precision and pipewiki.org self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: “What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially 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 happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had actually taken place in the city like singles’ day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to “a couple of practical constraints”.

“DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can impact 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 information may also limit its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual tasks … As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra obstacles throughout real-world release.”

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

That sought numerous duplicated attempts - four triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, also going on to list 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 a thorough investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the incident”, details which is now obsoleted.

The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful event took place 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, resulting in a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The event occurred on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: wavedream.wiki The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the cops.

Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The police are performing a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the incident.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts 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 occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The transformed response also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been extensively released in international 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 rich” writing.

“DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story,” wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds gradually from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid imagery for the setting,” she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately “crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more considerable twist”.

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

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen believes 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, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing,” he informed CNA.

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As journalists and writers, 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 embeded 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 story embeded in the year 2145 titled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing”.

It consisted of 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 traditional heroes Sun Wukong as “a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner “drowning in debt and vices” and Sha Wujing as a “quiet 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 dramatic cyberpunk story 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths.”

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

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

Realising his new reality and “seeking to understand his function in this strange new world”, he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each having problem with their own existential crises”.

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred “Eternal Scroll” from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was “challenging to make a definitive statement” about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, “such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization”.

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply replicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation techniques - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT’s efforts.

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

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

“DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints,” kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

“When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much 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, especially for Chinese users.

“Ninety percent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They’re utilizing it for other productive means,” Chen said.