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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 game after DeepSeek's success.

Alibaba's Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, Chinese startup 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 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 important" and its foray into the field has actually 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 pledges of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the concept that smaller gamers 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 benefit" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative reasoning jobs.

"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research study," Chen included.

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

Chinese AI are moving rapidly, analysts state, hb9lc.org building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to apply generative AI to jobs and engel-und-waisen.de establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

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

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative ways to optimize or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training huge AI designs."

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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 sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as no 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 configured 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 question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!"

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

The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had actually taken place 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 as well as "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may also restrict its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which presents extra challenges during real-world deployment."

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

That wanted multiple repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to note details like the date and garagesale.es time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the cops are performing a comprehensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:

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

Date and Time: The incident took place 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, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the authorities.

Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and hb9lc.org circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the occurrence.

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

Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to present the same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified action likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly published in global news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."

Opinions, though, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative 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 informed 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 fundamental sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an interesting storyline embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

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

It likewise brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 good battle, developing a similarly significant cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching 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 difficulty - providing a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation movie.

"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 brand-new reality and "looking for to understand his function in this unusual brand-new world", he then escapes and pipewiki.org meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

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

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable innovation techniques - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese current occasions, which offers it an added advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator systemcheck-wiki.de and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anyone else, so I feel 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 people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.