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)
This audio is created by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags 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 researcher 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 guarantees of real-world service applications, disgaeawiki.info Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new data.
2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI models taking on sophisticated reasoning jobs.
"We could see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key hurdle 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 ... forcing lots of to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training huge AI designs."
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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, topics considered delicate by the state are censored on the web so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend 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 concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"
To further evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually happened 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 factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how rapidly 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 might likewise limit its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which postures additional difficulties throughout real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That wanted multiple repeated attempts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others injured, 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 composed that "the cops are carrying out an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the event", setiathome.berkeley.edu details which is now obsoleted.
The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, trademarketclassifieds.com a major and tragic occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, trademarketclassifieds.com resulting in a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: The event took place on November 11, 2024, at roughly 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the cops.
Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are performing a comprehensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and wiki.dulovic.tech their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in 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 modified reaction likewise raised concerns 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 rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds gradually from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery 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 good story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, though, differ.
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.
Related:
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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 fundamental sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing 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 conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed a great battle, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly 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, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation film.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new reality and "seeking to understand his purpose in this unusual new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not just reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-efficient development methods - and delivering localised and bytes-the-dust.com improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its innovative flair that made for a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, disgaeawiki.info unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an added benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.
"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just like anybody else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."
Independent Beijing-based consultant Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, specifically for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
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