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 produced by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags 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 essential” and its foray into the field has been “years in the making”, said Chen Qiheng, engel-und-waisen.de 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 took off in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s increase that really “urged” the concept that smaller sized players like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.

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The “focus on expense benefit” is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated reasoning jobs.

“We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research study,” Chen included.

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable ways to apply generative AI to jobs and develop more innovative products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially AI chips, remains an essential 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 capability of Chinese tech companies … forcing many to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model abilities,” she said.

“While some business like DeepSeek, have found creative ways to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training really big 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 delicate by the state are censored on the web so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues rather!”

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

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

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken place, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had occurred 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 elements at play, such as censorship as well as “a few useful constraints”.

“DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or upgraded,” she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

“Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also limit its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual jobs … As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which positions additional challenges during real-world deployment.”

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

That sought multiple repeated attempts - four prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, likewise 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 wrote that “the authorities are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident”, 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 event happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, wavedream.wiki 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.

Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to hospitals 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 government and regional authorities have been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, feel free to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in 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 modified reaction also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been commonly released in worldwide report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even “mentally 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, fishtanklive.wiki who specialises in AI.

“Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting,” she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually “crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist”.

“DeepSeek composed a good story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice.”

Opinions, though, differ.

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

”(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, 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 writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing storyline embeded in the year 2145 titled, “Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra” - which sees “a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing”.

It included elaborate settings - smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that float 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 stolen battle body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 put up an excellent battle, coming up with an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined “a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous 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 myths.”

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation film.

“The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research center located in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new truth and “seeking to understand his purpose in this odd new world”, he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - “each battling with their own existential crises”.

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating 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 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 simply replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development methods - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, it-viking.ch the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate actions to questions about Chinese present events, which offers it an added benefit.

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

“DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints,” noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

“When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - simply like anybody else, so I seem 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, specifically for Chinese users.

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