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 startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has actually 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 important" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist 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 promises of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.

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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is an unique function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained model to reason from new information.

2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative thinking tasks.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research study," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, setiathome.berkeley.edu analysts state, it-viking.ch building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese developers, 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 capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge 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, topics deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no 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 concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!"

To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had happened 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 aspects at play, such as censorship as well as "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may also limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses additional obstacles during real-world implementation."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai automobile attack.

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

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals 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 cops are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.

The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, forum.altaycoins.com male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The event happened on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

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

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

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified response also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

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

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, however, engel-und-waisen.de differ.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.

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

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

It consisted of sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It also brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up an excellent battle, creating an equally 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

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

"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new truth and "looking for to understand his purpose in this weird brand-new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable development techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and factual reactions to questions about Chinese current occasions, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing 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 firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anybody else, so I seem like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based consultant Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety percent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.