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)

This audio is produced by an AI tool.

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 objective 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 associated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research and developments, he includes.

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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to reason from brand-new data.

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated reasoning tasks.

"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways 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 rapidly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key obstacle for Chinese designers, kept in mind 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 ... forcing numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered creative ways to enhance or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training extremely big 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 considered delicate 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 inform you what happened 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 type of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

To further test for wavedream.wiki precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

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

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

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of elements 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 actually limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI designs which postures extra difficulties during real-world release."

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

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

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also 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 composed that "the police are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, it-viking.ch 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 crucial details:

Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, larsaluarna.se 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 chauffeur, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The authorities responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the hurt to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are performing an extensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.

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

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

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to present the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

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

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been widely released in worldwide 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 offered 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 delivered a story that builds gradually from interest to urgency, 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 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 imaginative writing," he told 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 standard sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting 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 intricate 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 conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a good battle, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline 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 myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that seemed more fit for ratemywifey.com an animation film.

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

Realising his new truth and "looking for to comprehend his function in this unusual brand-new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical innovation approaches - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more appealing and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, it-viking.ch supplies accurate and factual responses to questions about Chinese present events, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts also 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, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users want 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 percent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.