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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 actually 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 important" and wiki-tb-service.com its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated 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 company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "urged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up firms could have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new information.

2025 could also see the development of more Chinese AI models tackling advanced thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen included.

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 ingenious and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential hurdle 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) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business ... forcing lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to steer clear of domestic politics.

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

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

The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

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

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

That was after numerous repeated attempts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, archmageriseswiki.com likewise going on to note 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 conducting a comprehensive investigation into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The occurrence took place on November 11, 2024, at around 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 motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the cops.

Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and raovatonline.org caused substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to posture the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been commonly published in international news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, however, vary.

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

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

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As reporters 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 film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with an interesting 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 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 "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a great fight, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".

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

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a storyline that seemed more fit for an animation film.

"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new reality and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this weird new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating 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 "tough to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not simply replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical innovation approaches - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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 produced a more appealing and yewiki.org imaginative story 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 current occasions, which provides it an added benefit.

Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing 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 per cent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're using it for other productive ways," Chen said.