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’S BEHIND 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 “strategically important” and its venture into the field has actually been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and disgaeawiki.info revealed guarantees of real-world business applications, bytes-the-dust.com Chen informed CNA.

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

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The “focus on cost advantage” is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to reason from new information.

2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced 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 designs and integrate them with scientific research,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s innovative AI chips, remains a key hurdle 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 ability of Chinese tech companies … 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 actually found innovative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big distinction for training very 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to steer 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 reasoning issues rather!”

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

The automobile attack outside a sports arena 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 mention that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually taken place 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 factors at play, such as censorship along with “a couple of useful constraints”.

“DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or updated,” she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

“Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might likewise restrict its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek also hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which presents extra obstacles throughout real-world deployment.”

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

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

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, 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 authorities are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event”, details which is now dated.

The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s reaction in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, forum.altaycoins.com a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, larsaluarna.se 62 years of ages), was captured by the police.

Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

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

This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to supply support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the event.

If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply “I don’t have specific details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The transformed action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively published in global report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

“Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting,” she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually “crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist”.

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

Opinions, fishtanklive.wiki though, differ.

Chen believes 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, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative 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 embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing storyline embeded in the year 2145 entitled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism combines 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 in between quantum server farms”.

It also brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat 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 put up a great battle, developing an equally remarkable 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths.”

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

“The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech 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 purpose in this strange new world”, he then escapes and satisfies 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 wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in cost-efficient innovation approaches - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, bytes-the-dust.com unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and factual responses to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an added advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after using 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 provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - simply 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, specifically for Chinese users.

“Ninety percent of individuals using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They’re utilizing it for other productive ways,” Chen said.