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 lags CHINA’S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 crucial” and wiki.myamens.com its venture into the field has actually been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

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

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that actually “encouraged” the idea 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 advantage” is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of using a trained model to reason from brand-new data.

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs tackling advanced thinking tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient methods to apply generative AI to jobs and develop more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial hurdle 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 ability of Chinese tech companies … forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities,” she said.

“While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction 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, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to guide clear of 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 logic issues instead!”

To even more check for accuracy and wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr self-censorship, bio.rogstecnologia.com.br we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: “What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The cars and setiathome.berkeley.edu truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just disclosing 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 actually occurred in the city like singles’ day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

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

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

“Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also limit its versatility (to carry out) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI models which presents extra obstacles during real-world implementation.”

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba’s chatbot surprisingly answered our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.

That was after numerous repeated efforts - 4 triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually 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 performing a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident”, details which is now obsoleted.

The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s action in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic occurrence took place 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 number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.

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

Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the police.

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

Investigation: The cops are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public concern. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, surgiteams.com subsequent attempts to posture the exact 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 modified reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely released in international report 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 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story,” composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid imagery for the setting,” she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately “crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more significant twist”.

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

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as highly 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 strongly as others in creative 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 film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

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

It included intricate 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 likewise remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, 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 “quiet hulking android” from the Yangtze River, whose “memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented”.

ChatGPT put up a great fight, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk story which likewise 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths.”

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

“The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research center 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 purpose in this weird new world”, he then leaves and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each fighting with their own existential crises”.

The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing 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 “challenging to make a definitive declaration” 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 highlights how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in affordable development techniques - and providing localised and improved outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese present events, wiki.asexuality.org which gives it an included advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

“DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints,” noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

“When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anyone else, so I feel like that’s a piece missing from it.”

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

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