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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on ending up being 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 accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.

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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is an unique function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and bio.rogstecnologia.com.br reasoning costs - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative reasoning jobs.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research study," Chen added.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts say, setiathome.berkeley.edu constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty 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) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring numerous to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower model capabilities," she said.

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

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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 delicate by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured 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 problems rather!"

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

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of useful constraints".

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

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which postures extra obstacles throughout real-world deployment."

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

That was after numerous repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately communicated details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the cops are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", 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 significant and setiathome.berkeley.edu tragic occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The event occurred 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 systemcheck-wiki.de 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the cops.

Response: The authorities reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the injured to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing a thorough examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event.

This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the incident.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to present 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 occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been widely released in global report at the time of the accident - so no 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 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, garagesale.es though, differ.

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, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

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As journalists and authors, we needed to see this for larsaluarna.se ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi movie plot embeded 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 interesting storyline set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

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

It also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed 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 typical as ancient misconceptions."

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

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

Realising his new truth and "looking for to comprehend his function in this weird brand-new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing 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 noted that it was "tough to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-efficient development techniques - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and factual responses to concerns about Chinese present events, which offers it an added advantage.

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," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator trademarketclassifieds.com and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

"When provided an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I seem 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, especially for Chinese users.

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