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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 goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

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

Private and wiki.dulovic.tech public investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to reason from brand-new data.

2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs taking on innovative thinking tasks.

"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research," Chen included.

AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical methods to use generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty for Chinese developers, yewiki.org noted Dr Marina Zhang, bytes-the-dust.com an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing numerous to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental 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, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it ought to come as not a 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 set to stay away from domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"

To further evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What occurred 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 networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had occurred in the city like songs' 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 in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which poses extra difficulties throughout real-world release."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.

That wanted several duplicated attempts - four triggers to be accurate - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 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, along with casualties.

However, it wrote that "the authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:

Answer: wavedream.wiki On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened 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 driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the police.

Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the hurt to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: bytes-the-dust.com The cops are carrying out a thorough investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the event, feel complimentary to ask.

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

The modified response also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been extensively released in international news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen 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 substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, though, differ.

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

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he informed CNA.

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As journalists 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, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

It included intricate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float 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 stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 installed an excellent fight, coming up with a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a story that seemed 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 new reality and "seeking to understand his function in this weird brand-new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, including 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 simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in economical development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its creative flair that produced a more engaging and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which provides it an included advantage.

Experts also 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 study firm Strategy Risks.

"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on from it."

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

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