A paddle-wielding robot is so adept at playing table tennis that it is posing a tough challenge to elite human players and sometimes defeating them, according to a new study that shows how advances in artificial intelligence are making robots more agile.

Somewhere in China, a humanoid robot reportedly stands in a private living room rather than on a trade-show stage. UniX AI announced on April 12, 2026, that its Panther service robot had begun what the company calls the first real-home deployment of a mass-produced humanoid.