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'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 ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being “strategically crucial” and its foray 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 Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually “encouraged” the concept that smaller sized players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.

'A lot is up in the air’: Is Chinese firm DeepSeek's AI design as impactful as it claims?

Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI company just changed the guidelines of tech-geopolitics

The “focus on cost benefit” is a distinctive function of AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI models tackling innovative reasoning jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial 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) limit the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities,” she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative ways to enhance or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge distinction for training huge AI designs.“

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore says it expects companies to abide by its laws

US checking out whether DeepSeek utilized restricted AI chips obtained through other nations, source states

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 considered delicate by the state are censored on the web 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 recommend Chinese chatbots are configured to guide clear of domestic politics.

When asked “Who is Xi Jinping”, raovatonline.org 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 test for precision 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 arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually taken location, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like songs’ day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship as well as “a couple of useful constraints”.

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to innovative 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 concentrate on Chinese-language information might also limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which postures extra challenges throughout real-world release.“

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

That sought multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also 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 composed that “the cops are conducting an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence”, details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was performed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's action in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, surgiteams.com 2024, a significant and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, [forum.batman.gainedge.org](https://forum.batman.gainedge.org/index.php?action=profile