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 start-up DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

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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 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 public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "encouraged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the costs of using a trained model to reason from new information.

2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced reasoning jobs.

"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general 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 abilities.

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

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese designers, noted 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 rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered creative ways to optimize 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, subjects deemed delicate 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 disagreements or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic problems instead!"

To further check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken place, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of aspects at play, setiathome.berkeley.edu such as censorship as well as "a couple of useful constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might likewise limit its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which poses additional challenges throughout real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, pediascape.science Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.

That wanted several repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

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

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, forum.altaycoins.com 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The incident occurred on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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 of ages), was captured by the cops.

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

Investigation: The cops are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed examination into the incident.

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

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to pose the very same question 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 transformed action likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively released in international report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

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

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out 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 likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he told 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 basic sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an engaging storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It consisted of sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 installed a good battle, creating a similarly remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

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

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a story that seemed more suited for an animation movie.

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

Realising his new truth and "seeking to understand his function in this odd new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem 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 incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just reproducing Western paradigms, however rather developing in affordable development approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for 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, supplies accurate and factual actions to concerns about Chinese current events, which offers it an added advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing 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 company Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anybody 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, especially for Chinese users.

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