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 startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
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 Jinping's objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "tactically crucial" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher 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 showed pledges of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to reason from new information.
2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced thinking jobs.
"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, archmageriseswiki.com an associate professor larsaluarna.se at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative methods to enhance or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training huge AI designs."
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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 considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 reasoning problems instead!"
To further check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had taken place, highlighting rather a military air show and other events that had actually happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may likewise limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which poses extra difficulties throughout real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That wanted numerous repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.
However, it composed that "the cops are conducting a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.
The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: it-viking.ch On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic incident took place in Zhuhai, surgiteams.com China. According to several news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The event happened on November 11, archmageriseswiki.com 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, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the police.
Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are performing an extensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have particular questions about the incident, feel free to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to posture the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered reaction also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been extensively released in global report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered 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 delivered a story that develops gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek composed a good story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative 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 fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT put up an excellent battle, coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk story 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 guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation film.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new reality and "looking for to comprehend his function in this unusual new world", he then leaves and fulfills 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 spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply replicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in affordable innovation methods - and and enhanced outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its creative flair that made for a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and factual responses to concerns about Chinese existing events, which provides it an added advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on 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 per cent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other productive ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
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