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

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that actually “encouraged” the concept that smaller players like start-up firms might have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, garagesale.es he includes.

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The “emphasis on cost advantage” is an unique function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs - the expenses of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with innovative thinking tasks.

“We might see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research study,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, 89u89.com particularly Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, remains a key 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 many to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease design abilities,” she said.

“While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered creative methods to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training large 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 considered 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 disagreements or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 concern yet. Let’s chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues rather!”

To even more test 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 cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had occurred in the city like singles’ day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

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

“DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or updated,” she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

“Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may also restrict its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn’t yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI designs which presents extra difficulties during real-world release.”

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

That sought multiple duplicated efforts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to list 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 comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the event”, details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy 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 key details:

Date and Time: The event happened on November 11, wiki.myamens.com 2024, at roughly 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 apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

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

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

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

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly released in global news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even “emotionally rich” writing.

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

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

“DeepSeek composed a good story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice.”

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks 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 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 writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, kousokuwiki.org including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with 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 consisted of intricate settings - smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms”.

It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner “drowning in debt 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 great fight, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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, pipewiki.org Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a story that seemed more matched for an animation movie.

“The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research facility situated in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new reality and “seeking to understand his function in this unusual brand-new world”, he then leaves and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each fighting with their own existential crises”.

The trio then starts a quest, browsing 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 “difficult to make a conclusive declaration” about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different locations, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-effective development techniques - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese current 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 disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints,” noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and forum.pinoo.com.tr CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.

“When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - similar to anybody 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, specifically for Chinese users.

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