Sony has developed a project called Ace, an autonomous robot capable of competing with professional table tennis players. This breakthrough demonstrates that AI systems have achieved human-like, expert-level performance in a competitive sport in the physical world. Ace uses advanced sensory technology, reinforcement learning and precision hardware to play table tennis, including nine active pixel-sensor cameras, additional systems to measure ball's velocity and spin. The robot was tested against five elite and two professional-level table-tournament players and won three of the five matches overall. The company believes this could potentially lead to a new class of real-world applications.