Humans have been building ping-pong playing robots for decades, such as Omron's FOREPHUS that challenged amateur competitors at CES 2017. What sets Ace apart from the rest is that the robot, which was developed by Sony's AI division, is the first that can hold its own against top-ranked human player...
By Andrew LiszewskiApril 22, 2026156 views
Image: The Verge
Ace is the first robot that can beat the best human players while following the official rules of table tennis. | Image: Sony AI
Humans have been building ping-pong playing robots for decades, such as Omron's FOREPHUS that challenged amateur competitors at CES 2017. What sets Ace apart from the rest is that the robot, which was developed by Sony's AI division, is the first that can hold its own against top-ranked human players and occasionally even beat them in matches that follow the official rules of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
AI is already capable of besting humans at games like Chess and Go, but physical games pose a much greater challenge as robots have to be engineered to match the speed and responsiveness of the human mind and body. To b …
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