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 generated 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 goal and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in
AI by 2030.
China views
AI as being "tactically essential" and its
venture into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public financial investments in Chinese
AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "encouraged" the idea that smaller players like start-up firms could have functions to play in
AI research and developments, he includes.
'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese firm DeepSeek's
AI design as impactful as it claims?
Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese
AI company just changed the rules of tech-geopolitics
The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese
AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of using a trained design to reason from brand-new data.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese
AI models dealing with sophisticated reasoning jobs.
"We could see some
AI companies concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways 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 companies are moving rapidly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to use generative
AI to jobs and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated
AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the capability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found imaginative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training large
AI designs."
DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore says it expects companies to comply with its laws
US looking into whether DeepSeek utilized restricted
AI chips obtained through other countries, source says
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 sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what happened 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 type of question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic issues instead!"
To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air show and other events that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship as well as "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might likewise limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more established
AI models which positions extra challenges during real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That was after multiple repeated efforts - four prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens 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 examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.
The driver, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (__, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center,
leading to a substantial number of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The occurrence 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 nabbed by the authorities.
Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are performing an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have particular questions about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to pose the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified reaction also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly published in worldwide news reports 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 "emotionally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in
AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a great story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform 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 also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
China's new face of
AI: Who is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?
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AI scene
As journalists and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges 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 in between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware
AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed a great battle, creating a similarly dramatic cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring 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 appeared more suited for an animation movie.
"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this weird brand-new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "tough to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese
AI models are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient development methods - and providing localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that made for a more interesting and creative narrative 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 concerns about Chinese existing events, which gives it an included advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese
AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing 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 percent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other productive ways," Chen said.
