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)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country into a tech superpower has 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 "strategically crucial" and its foray into the field has 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 sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained design to reason from brand-new information.

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced thinking tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key hurdle 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 capability of Chinese tech business ... forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease model abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative ways to enhance or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training large AI models."

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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 internet so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic issues rather!"

To even more test for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its flexibility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which positions additional challenges during real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our concern about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.

That was after multiple repeated efforts - four triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which eliminated 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, as well as casualties.

However, it wrote that "the police are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to sources, a man named 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 considerable number of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The occurrence occurred 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 chauffeur, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the cops.

Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and regional authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to position the same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed response also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly published in global news reports at the time of the mishap - 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 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."

Opinions, however, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.

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

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As journalists 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 motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created 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 consisted of intricate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift 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", 89u89.com 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 installed an excellent battle, creating a similarly significant cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring 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 misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a storyline that appeared more fit for an animation movie.

"The movie 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 brand-new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a definitive declaration" 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 highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated 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, provides precise and factual responses to questions about Chinese existing events, which offers it an included advantage.

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

"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anybody else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."

Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of people utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other productive ways," Chen said.