GitLab

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 country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "tactically crucial" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "urged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.

'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese company DeepSeek's AI model as impactful as it claims?

Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI business just altered the rules of tech-geopolitics

The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of utilizing a trained model to reason from new information.

2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs tackling sophisticated thinking jobs.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen added.

AGI describes 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 innovative and cost-effective ways to apply generative AI to tasks and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential difficulty 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) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring many to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered creative ways to enhance or utilize more basic hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training very large AI models."

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore states it anticipates business to comply with its laws

US looking into whether DeepSeek used restricted AI chips obtained through other countries, source states

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 web so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend 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 concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems rather!"

To even more test for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, setiathome.berkeley.edu Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "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 networks - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had taken place, highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had happened 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 useful constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might likewise restrict its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which positions additional obstacles during real-world release."

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

That sought numerous duplicated efforts - 4 prompts to be accurate - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 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, in addition to casualties.

However, it wrote that "the authorities are conducting a thorough examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous 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, leading to a substantial number of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The occurrence took place on November 11, 2024, at around 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 driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the cops.

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

Investigation: The cops are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the event.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to pose the exact 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 altered action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly released in global news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "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, though, differ.

Chen believes 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, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.

Related:

China's new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?

'Made in China': Pride, pleasant surprise from as DeepSeek shocks international AI scene

As reporters and writers, 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 set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing 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 elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It also brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 put up a great battle, coming up with an equally 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 common as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a story that seemed more fit for an animation film.

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

Realising his new reality and "seeking to understand his function in this strange 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 sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical innovation techniques - 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 showed its imaginative flair that produced a more engaging and imaginative narrative 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 current occasions, which gives it an included advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I feel 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, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.