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 video game after DeepSeek’s success.
Alibaba’s Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, Chinese start-up 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 country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping’s objective and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being “tactically crucial” and its 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed promises of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek’s increase that truly “encouraged” the concept that smaller sized players like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.
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The “focus on cost advantage” 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 new information.
2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative thinking tasks.
“We might see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate 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 quickly, experts state, building on DeepSeek’s momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia’s sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, 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 companies … forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design abilities,” she said.
“While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative ways to enhance or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced 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, subjects deemed delicate 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 took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid domestic politics.
When asked “Who is Xi Jinping”, data.tkamedia.com DeepSeek’s reply was “Sorry, I’m uncertain how to approach this kind of concern yet. Let’s chat about math, coding, and reasoning problems instead!”
To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: “What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?”
The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media – with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had occurred in the city like singles’ day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with “a few practical constraints”.
“DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact how quickly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded,” she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
“Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may also limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs … As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn’t yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which positions additional challenges throughout real-world implementation.”
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba’s chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.
That was after multiple duplicated attempts – 4 prompts to be accurate – in a period 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 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 performing a comprehensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the event”, details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5’s response completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, agora-antikes.gr 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable number of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the police.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.
This event was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and forwardmotiontx.com to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, feel complimentary to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the very 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 response also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been extensively released 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 deliver structured and even “emotionally abundant” writing.
“DeepSeek-R1 provided 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 builds slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting,” she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually “crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist”.
“DeepSeek wrote a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option.”
Opinions, however, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
“(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but 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 authors, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test – to come up with a standard sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with 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 fancy settings – smoggy skies “pierced by skyscrapers”, “holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets” and “ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms”.
It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as “a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body”, Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 a great fight, developing an equally significant 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths.”
Disappointingly, reckoningz.com Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty – providing a story that appeared more suited for an animation film.
“The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing,” it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new truth and “looking for to comprehend his purpose in this strange new world”, he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing – “each having a hard time with their own existential crises”.
The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred “Eternal Scroll” from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was “hard to make a conclusive declaration” about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, “such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization”.
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in affordable innovation approaches – and providing localised and improved results.
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 made for 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, provides accurate and accurate responses to questions about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an added benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
“DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints,” noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
“When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version – simply like anybody else, so I feel like that’s a piece missing out on from it.”
Independent Beijing-based expert 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 attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They’re utilizing it for other productive means,” Chen said.
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