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)

This audio is created 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 “tactically important” and its venture into the field has actually been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

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

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The “focus on cost advantage” is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new data.

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on innovative thinking jobs.

“We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

“US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech business … forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model capabilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training extremely big AI models.”

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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 deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 kind of concern yet. Let’s chat about math, coding, and logic issues rather!”

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

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.

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

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to “a couple of practical constraints”.

“DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact 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 may likewise restrict its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra difficulties during real-world implementation.”

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

That was after several duplicated efforts - 4 triggers to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and setiathome.berkeley.edu age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that “the cops are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident”, details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s action in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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 driver, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the authorities.

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

Investigation: The cops are performing a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the incident.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and triggered considerable public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the occurrence.

If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the incident, feel totally free to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to position the very same concern 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 concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively released in international report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even “emotionally abundant” writing.

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

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

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

Opinions, however, vary.

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

”(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but 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 journalists and oeclub.org writers, 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, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that drift 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 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 an excellent battle, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined “a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West”.

“This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions.”

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

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

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

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was “tough to make a conclusive statement” about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, “such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization”.

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in approaches - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese present events, which offers it an added benefit.

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,” kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

“When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - simply like anyone else, so I seem like that’s a piece missing out on from it.”

Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, setiathome.berkeley.edu particularly for Chinese users.

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