Ping-pong robot Ace makes history by beating top-level human players

Science & TechnologySportsPing-pong robot Ace makes history by beating top-level human playersBy Reuters -Apr 23, 2026An autonomous robot ping-pong player dubbed Ace has achieved a milestone for AI and robotics in Tokyo by competing against and sometimes defeating top-level human players at table tennis, a feat that could presage an array of other applications for similarly adept ​robots. Ace, created by the Japanese company Sony’s AI research division, is the first robot to attain expert-level performance in a competitive physical sport, one that requires rapid ‌decisions and precision execution, the project’s leader said. Ace did so by employing high-speed perception, AI-based control and a state-of-the-art robotic system. There have been various ping-pong-playing robots since 1983, but until now they were unable to rival highly skilled human competitors. Ace changed that with its performances against human elite-level and professional players in matches following the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation, the sport’s governing body, and officiated by licensed umpires. “Unlike computer games, where prior AI systems surpass ​human experts, physical and real-time sports such as table tennis remain a major open challenge due to their requirements for fast, precise and adversarial interactions near obstacles and at the ​edge of human reaction time,” said Peter Dürr, director of Sony AI Zurich and leader for Sony AI’s project Ace. The project’s goal was not only to ⁠compete at table tennis but to develop insights into how robots can perceive, plan and act with human-like speed and precision in dynamic environments, Dürr said. “The success of Ace, with its perception system ​and learning-based control algorithm, suggests that similar techniques could be applied to other areas requiring fast, real-time control and human interaction – such as manufacturing and service robotics, as well as applications across sports, entertainment and ​safety-critical phys...