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 actually long been President Xi Jinping’s goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being “tactically important” and its venture 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 investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek’s rise that truly “encouraged” the idea that smaller gamers like start-up firms could have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The “focus on expense benefit” is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of using a trained design to reason from brand-new information.

2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated thinking jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, building on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia’s advanced AI chips, pipewiki.org remains an essential difficulty for Chinese designers, 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 … requiring lots of to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower design abilities,” she said.

“While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative methods to enhance or utilize more fundamental 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 delicate by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid 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 logic problems rather!”

To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: “What occurred 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 media - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions that had actually happened in the city like songs’ day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to “a couple of practical constraints”.

“DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to advanced 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 might also limit its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn’t yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which postures additional difficulties throughout real-world implementation.”

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

That sought multiple repeated efforts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it wrote that “the authorities are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident”, details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5’s action in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The incident 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 chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the cops.

Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The police are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event.

This event was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The government and regional authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed examination into the incident.

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

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

The modified action also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been commonly published in global news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even “mentally rich” writing.

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

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

“DeepSeek composed a great story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option.”

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks 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 likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing,” he informed CNA.

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As journalists 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 movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

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

It consisted of sophisticated 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 brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as “a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 a great fight, developing an equally remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions.”

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that appeared more fit for an animation film.

“The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility situated in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, then going on to explain the following:

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

The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual “Eternal Scroll” from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was “tough to make a conclusive declaration” about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in economical development techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek’s sci-fi movie plot showed its imaginative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT’s efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and accurate actions to questions about Chinese current events, which offers it an included benefit.

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, founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

“When provided an option, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - simply like anybody else, so I seem 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 people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They’re using it for other efficient means,” Chen said.