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 created by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the nation 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 "strategically essential" and its venture 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 AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller sized gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and developments, he includes.
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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new information.
2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative reasoning tasks.
"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research study," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower model abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered creative ways to optimize or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training large 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, subjects considered delicate by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed to guide clear of 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 logic problems instead!"
To further test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken location, surgiteams.com highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which postures additional obstacles throughout real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.
That sought several duplicated attempts - four triggers to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals 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, along with casualties.
However, it composed that "the cops are performing a comprehensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.
The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident happened on November 11, 2024, at around 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, hb9lc.org in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The chauffeur, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the cops.
Response: archmageriseswiki.com The police responded rapidly to the scene, and raovatonline.org emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public issue. The government and setiathome.berkeley.edu regional authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the occurrence.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to pose the same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely released in international news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".
"DeepSeek composed a good story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, though, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed 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 consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It likewise brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed an excellent fight, coming up with a similarly remarkable cyberpunk storyline 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 common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a story that appeared more suited for an animation movie.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new truth and "looking for to understand his purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-effective development approaches - and providing 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 showed its imaginative flair that made for a more interesting and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an added benefit.
Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on 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 percent of people utilizing the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other productive methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
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