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)

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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 becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being “tactically important” and its foray into the field has actually 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 financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that actually “urged” the concept that smaller sized 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 expense benefit” is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained model to reason from new data.

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

“We might see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts say, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable methods to use generative AI to tasks and develop more innovative products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, remains an essential difficulty for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

“US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business … forcing lots of to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design capabilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found imaginative ways to optimize or use more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training huge 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, subjects deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured to steer clear of 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 mathematics, coding, and logic problems instead!”

To further test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: “What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had actually happened in the city like singles’ day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as “a few useful constraints”.

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

“Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual tasks … As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn’t yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which positions extra obstacles throughout real-world implementation.”

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

That wanted numerous duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, likewise 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 police are conducting a thorough investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event”, details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was performed 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 several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck 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 took place 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 driver, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The police are carrying out a thorough examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered considerable 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 particular concerns about the incident, feel complimentary to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to present the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply “I do not have particular details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The altered action also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely published in worldwide 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 abundant” writing.

“DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story,” composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated 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, mentally abundant story with a more significant twist”.

“DeepSeek wrote an excellent story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice.”

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.

”(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however 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 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 film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing 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 skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms”.

It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 set up a good battle, developing an equally significant cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined “a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary figures of Journey to the West”.

“This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions.”

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

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

Realising his new reality and “seeking to understand his function in this odd new world”, he then leaves and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each having a hard time with their own existential crises”.

The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was “tough to make a conclusive statement” about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in various locations, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in affordable development techniques - and providing localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek’s sci-fi movie plot showed its creative flair that made for a more interesting and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT’s efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate responses to questions about Chinese current events, which offers it an added advantage.

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

“When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anybody 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, particularly for Chinese users.

“Ninety percent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They’re using it for other productive means,” Chen said.