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, higgledy-piggledy.xyz 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 goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being “strategically essential” and its foray into the field has actually 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed promises of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

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

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The “focus on expense benefit” is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to reason from brand-new information.

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced thinking jobs.

“We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research,” Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s sophisticated AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

“US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business … forcing many to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design capabilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training extremely large 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 considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured 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 logic problems instead!”

To further test for it-viking.ch 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 automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out 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 in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship along with “a few practical constraints”.

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

“Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra obstacles during real-world implementation.”

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

That was after numerous repeated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 people 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, along with casualties.

However, it composed that “the police are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident”, details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s response in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, wakewiki.de 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, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the authorities.

Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.

This event was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public concern. The federal government and local authorities have been working to supply support to the victims and setiathome.berkeley.edu their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or engel-und-waisen.de have specific questions about the event, feel totally free to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply “I do not have specific details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The transformed reaction also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly published 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 introspective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story,” wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated 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 considerable twist”.

“DeepSeek composed a great story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice.”

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.

”(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can also 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 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, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 titled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing”.

It included sophisticated settings - smoggy skies “pierced by high-rise buildings”, “holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms”.

It likewise brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 set up an excellent fight, developing a similarly significant cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths.”

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation movie.

“The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research 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 weird brand-new world”, he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each battling with their own existential crises”.

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred “Eternal Scroll” from falling under the .

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just duplicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in affordable development approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, kousokuwiki.org the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and factual responses to questions about Chinese present occasions, which gives it an included advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

“DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints,” kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

“When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much 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, particularly for Chinese users.

“Ninety per cent of individuals 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.