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)

This audio is created 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 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 revealed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the idea that smaller players like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 might likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs tackling sophisticated thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models 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, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key obstacle 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) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training huge AI designs."

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So how do Chinese AI bots match up 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 not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place 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 kind of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic issues rather!"

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

The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken place, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might likewise limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which poses additional challenges during real-world implementation."

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

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

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others hurt, likewise 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 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 completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and systemcheck-wiki.de awful incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The incident happened 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 motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the authorities.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing a comprehensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

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

If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly published in international news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally rich" .

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds gradually from interest to seriousness, 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, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, however, 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 tasks, however 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 standard sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with an engaging storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "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 "a sarcastic, 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 "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a good fight, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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 challenge - delivering a story that appeared more matched for an animation film.

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

Realising his brand-new reality and "seeking to understand his purpose in this weird new world", he then gets away and satisfies 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 sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in economical innovation approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced 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 narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and factual responses to concerns about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an included advantage.

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

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - similar to anyone 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, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other productive methods," Chen said.