How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?

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 produced by an AI tool.

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 “strategically crucial” and its venture 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 showed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s increase that truly “encouraged” the concept that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The “emphasis on expense advantage” is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs – the costs of using a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated thinking tasks.

“We might see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research,” Chen added.

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts state, constructing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more sophisticated items beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia’s sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential hurdle 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 capability of Chinese tech companies … forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model abilities,” she said.

“While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more basic hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training large 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, subjects deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to stay away from 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 mathematics, coding, and logic issues rather!”

To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: “What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”

The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks – with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually taken location, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions 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 in addition to “a couple of useful constraints”.

“DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to advanced 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 likewise limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual tasks … As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which positions additional obstacles throughout real-world release.”

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba’s chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.

That wanted multiple repeated efforts – four prompts to be precise – in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others hurt, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.

However, it composed that “the authorities are performing a thorough examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event”, details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the key 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 driver, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

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

Investigation: The cops are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and local authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the event.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to posture the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply “I don’t have particular details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024”.

The transformed reaction likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly published in international report 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 deliver structured and even “emotionally rich” writing.

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

“Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting,” she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually “crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist”.

“DeepSeek wrote a great story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option.”

Opinions, however, differ.

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

“(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing,” he informed CNA.

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

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing story set in the year 2145 entitled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” – which sees “a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing”.

It consisted of intricate settings – smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms”.

It also brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as “an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner “drowning in financial obligation and vices” and Sha Wujing as a “silent hulking android” from the Yangtze River, whose “memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented”.

ChatGPT put up an excellent fight, creating a similarly significant cyberpunk story 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths.”

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge – providing a story that seemed more suited for an animation film.

“The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center located 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 gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing – “each battling with their own existential crises”.

The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was “tough to make a definitive declaration” about which bot was best, adding 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 just reproducing Western paradigms, however rather developing in affordable development techniques – and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and factual responses to questions about Chinese existing events, which gives it an included benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

“DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints,” kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

“When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation – just like 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, specifically for Chinese users.

“Ninety percent of individuals using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They’re using it for other efficient methods,” Chen said.