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 start-up 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 country into a tech superpower has actually 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 crucial" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for 35.237.164.2 China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.

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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new data.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs tackling innovative reasoning tasks.

"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for 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 ... forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered creative methods to enhance or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training huge AI models."

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So how do Chinese AI bots match up 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 internet so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to steer 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 further test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

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

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to advanced 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 data may also restrict its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which poses additional obstacles during real-world release."

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

That sought numerous repeated attempts - four triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the authorities are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

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

Response: The cops reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and local authorities have actually been working to supply assistance to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have about the event, feel free to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been extensively released in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

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

Opinions, though, vary.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative 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 standard sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of elaborate 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 remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great fight, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

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

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that appeared more matched for an animation movie.

"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study center 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 weird new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having a hard time with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, engel-und-waisen.de navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development techniques - and providing localised and wavedream.wiki enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that made for a more engaging and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual actions to concerns about Chinese present events, which provides it an added advantage.

Experts also 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, founder and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.

"When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based expert Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, specifically 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 delicate topics. They're using it for other productive methods," Chen said.