Watch Sony’s elite ping-pong robot beat top-ranked players

Sony AI has unveiled Ace, a groundbreaking table tennis robot that represents a significant leap in physical AI. Unlike previous robots designed for demonstrations or amateur play, Ace is the first to compete against and defeat top-ranked human players while strictly adhering to the official rules of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The robot features an 8-joint articulated arm system, with two joints controlling the paddle's position, two adjusting its orientation, and three enabling powerful shots. This mechanical design allows it to match the speed and responsiveness required for high-level play.

Ace's competitive edge comes from its sophisticated vision system, which uses nine traditional cameras to locate the ball in 3D space and three specialized "gaze control" cameras to measure the ball's angular velocity and spin. This enables Ace to accurately calculate the trajectory of a fast-moving, spinning ball—a critical challenge in table tennis. According to a study published in *Nature*, during test matches in April 2025, Ace won three out of five matches against elite players (those with over a decade of training) and later went on to defeat professional league competitors in December 2025.

This achievement moves AI beyond board games like Chess and Go into the complex, real-time physical world. While robots like Omron's FORPHEUS have challenged amateurs, Ace demonstrates a new level of integration between high-speed perception, decision-making, and precise mechanical actuation. Sony's breakthrough shows that AI systems can now not only think but also physically interact at a championship level, paving the way for advanced robotics in dynamic, unstructured environments.