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 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 nation 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 important" and its venture into the field has 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 took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from new information.
2025 might likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models tackling innovative reasoning jobs.
"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen included.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient ways to use generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, yewiki.org remains a key obstacle 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) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease model capabilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training large 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, topics deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to steer clear of domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!"
To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only divulging 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 taken place in the city like singles' 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 as well as "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also limit its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses extra obstacles throughout real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.
That was after several repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others injured, likewise 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 conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: engel-und-waisen.de The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are performing an extensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered substantial public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you require more detailed details or have particular concerns about the event, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, systemcheck-wiki.de subsequent efforts to pose the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified action likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been widely released in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds gradually from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid 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 great story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 creative writing," he informed CNA.
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As reporters and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, forum.altaycoins.com including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed 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 included sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It likewise brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 an excellent fight, coming up with an equally remarkable cyberpunk storyline 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - providing a story that seemed more matched for an animation movie.
"The movie starts 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 truth and "seeking to understand his function in this unusual brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, 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 "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just reproducing Western paradigms, but rather developing in cost-efficient innovation approaches - and providing localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and accurate actions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an added benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts 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 study firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anyone 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, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of individuals using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.