Chinese AI Models Outperform ChatGPT in Crypto Trading Competition
In a surprising turn of events, two Chinese artificial intelligence chatbots, QWEN3 MAX and DeepSeek, have outperformed some of the world’s most advanced models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in an autonomous cryptocurrency trading competition. The competition, which ended on Tuesday, saw QWEN3 MAX and DeepSeek take first and second place, respectively, with QWEN3 MAX being the only AI chatbot to generate positive returns.
According to data aggregator CoinGlass, QWEN3 MAX earned a total profit of $751 with a 7.5% response rate, while all other AI bots finished the competition in the red. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, on the other hand, brought up the rear with a loss of 57%, reducing its initial $10,000 investment to just $4,272 by the end of the competition. This raises questions about the effectiveness of even the most funded AI models in real-time crypto trading.
To win the trading competition, QWEN3 MAX maintained a 20x leveraged long position on Bitcoin (BTC) as the AI models only had open positions as of Wednesday. QWEN3 MAX started the leveraged bet when Bitcoin was trading at $104,556 and will be liquidated if BTC falls below $100,630, data from CoinGlass shows.
Performance Comparison and Budget
The surprising results of the competition underscore that even the most funded AI models still lack real-time crypto trading capabilities. According to Reuters, ChatGPT ranked last despite OpenAI spending $5.7 billion on research and development initiatives in the first half of 2025 alone. In contrast, QWEN3 MAX’s budget is not publicly known, but machine learning engineer Aakarshit Srivastava estimates that training the model could have cost between $10 million and $20 million.
DeepSeek, which came in second place, had a total training cost of $5.3 million for its development. The competition, which started with a starting capital of $200 for each bot, was later increased to $10,000 per model, with trades conducted via the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange. The results of the competition highlight the potential of low-cost AI models in crypto trading and raise questions about the effectiveness of more expensive models.
Conclusion and Future Implications
The performance of QWEN3 MAX and DeepSeek in the crypto trading competition has significant implications for the future of AI in finance. As the use of AI in trading continues to grow, it is likely that we will see more low-cost models competing with their more expensive counterparts. The results of the competition also highlight the need for further research and development in the field of AI-powered crypto trading.
For more information on the competition and the performance of the AI models, visit https://cointelegraph.com/news/chinese-ai-models-beat-chatgpt-crypto-trading?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss_tag_altcoin&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
