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 . (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

This audio is produced by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country into a tech superpower has 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 actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, forum.pinoo.com.tr an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for wiki.myamens.com China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

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

'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese company DeepSeek's AI model as impactful as it claims?

Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI company simply altered the rules of tech-geopolitics

The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models dealing with advanced reasoning tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese developers, noted 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 companies ... requiring many to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found creative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training large AI models."

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore states it expects companies to abide by its laws

US looking into whether DeepSeek utilized limited AI chips obtained through other nations, source says

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 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 disputes or tell you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to stay away from 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 issues instead!"

To further evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The vehicle attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only divulging the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken place, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had 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 factors at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the design can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also limit its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which postures extra challenges throughout real-world release."

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

That sought multiple repeated 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 lots of others injured, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the authorities are performing a thorough investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now dated.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, 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 considerable number of casualties. Here are the crucial 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 chauffeur, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the cops.

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

Investigation: The authorities are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event.

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

If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the occurrence, feel free to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the very same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in 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 altered action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely published in worldwide report 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 deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs gradually 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, forum.altaycoins.com adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".

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

Opinions, though, vary.

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

Related:

China's new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek creator Liang Wenfeng?

'Made in China': Pride, enjoyable surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek shocks worldwide AI scene

As journalists and authors, systemcheck-wiki.de we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges 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 between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 good battle, creating a similarly remarkable cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

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

"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, gratisafhalen.be then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "looking for to understand his function in this strange new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive 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 highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development approaches - 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 film plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more engaging and creative story 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 questions about Chinese present events, which gives it an included advantage.

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

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

"When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, specifically for wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.