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)

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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 and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically important" and its foray 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 sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and setiathome.berkeley.edu showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller sized players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, yewiki.org Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new information.

2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced reasoning tasks.

"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential difficulty for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing numerous to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model capabilities," she said.

"While some business 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 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 delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set 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 problems instead!"

To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had actually happened 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 factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to innovative hardware which can impact how quickly and extensively 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 tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which poses additional challenges during real-world deployment."

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

That wanted multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it wrote that "the authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.

The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and wiki.dulovic.tech awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, raovatonline.org 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck 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 roughly 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 chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the cops.

Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The police are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public concern. The government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the incident.

If you require more detailed details or have particular concerns about the event, feel complimentary to ask.

Despite initial success, higgledy-piggledy.xyz subsequent efforts to posture the very same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered action also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been extensively released in global news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from interest to urgency, 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 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 imaginative writing," he informed CNA.

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As journalists and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed 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 elaborate 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 remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up an excellent fight, creating an equally significant cyberpunk storyline 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

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

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

Realising his new reality and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical development techniques - and providing localised and improved results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that produced a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an included advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - similar to anyone else, so I feel 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 percent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.