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, genbecle.com AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the country into a tech superpower has actually 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 "strategically essential" 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have roles 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 business just changed the guidelines of tech-geopolitics
The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new data.
2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced reasoning tasks.
"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty 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) restrict the capability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative methods to enhance or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training extremely large AI models."
DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore says it expects companies to adhere to its laws
US looking into whether DeepSeek utilized restricted AI chips obtained through other nations, 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, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should 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 set to avoid 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 issues instead!"
To further test for precision 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 car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken location, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can affect how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which poses extra challenges during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our concern about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.
That was after several repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others hurt, archmageriseswiki.com also 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 authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.
The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and yewiki.org awful occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident 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 nabbed by the authorities.
Response: The cops reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the injured to hospitals for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident.
This event was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to present the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed response likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been widely published in global 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 deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a good story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."
Opinions, though, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can likewise 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, enjoyable surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek jolts international AI scene
As journalists and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an appealing story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT put up a good fight, creating an equally significant 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation film.
"The motion picture 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 "looking for to comprehend his function in this odd brand-new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts 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 kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a definitive statement" 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 designs are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical development techniques - and delivering localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and factual reactions to questions about Chinese present events, which provides it an included advantage.
Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - simply like anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."
Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.