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, trademarketclassifieds.com AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA’S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation 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 foray into the field has actually been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy for China Analysis.

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

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that actually “urged” the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.

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The “focus on expense benefit” is an unique feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of using a trained design to reason from new information.

2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with advanced thinking jobs.

“We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research study,” Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to apply generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia’s sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential difficulty 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 ability of Chinese tech companies … requiring numerous to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model capabilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative ways to optimize or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training large 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, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set 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 question yet. Let’s chat about mathematics, coding, and logic problems instead!”

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

The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.

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

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as “a couple of useful constraints”.

“DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded,” she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

“Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also restrict its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs … As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which positions extra challenges throughout real-world deployment.”

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

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

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people 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 composed that “the cops are performing an extensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event”, details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence occurred on November 11, 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 of ages), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The police are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to present the same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply “I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The transformed reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

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

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the ability 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,” wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting,” she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually “crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist”.

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

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative 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 creative writing,” he informed CNA.

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As journalists and authors, we needed 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, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging storyline embeded in the year 2145 titled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism merges 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 also remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner “drowning in financial obligation and vices” and Sha Wujing as a “quiet hulking android” from the Yangtze River, whose “memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented”.

ChatGPT installed a good fight, creating a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which likewise 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions.”

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

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

Realising his new reality and “looking for to comprehend his function in this odd brand-new world”, he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each having problem with their own existential crises”.

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was “tough to make a conclusive statement” about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various locations, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate actions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an included advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing 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 offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anybody 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, especially for Chinese users.

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