AI robot beats elite table tennis players in 'pivotal breakthrough'

French daily Le Parisien has an exclusive report on a complaint filed against food delivery giants Deliveroo and UberEats. On Wednesday, four associations filed a criminal complaint against the two companies, accusing them of human trafficking. They want the food delivery giants to recognise that their working conditions are a form of exploitation, according to the newspaper. Last year, riders went on strike to protest degraded working conditions, a drop in salary and unregulated working hours. There are an estimated 70,000 food delivery riders in France, many of them undocumented. According to a report by Médecins du Monde, 68 percent of these workers do not have legal papers. According to the report, they work around 63 hours a week for just under €1,500 a month, making their hourly salary just under €6 an hour. It is far less than the €11,75 promised by Deliveroo and the €14 promised by UberEats.

In other news, Le Monde has a moving portrait about Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines increasingly turning to religion. The French newspaper features a story on its front page about how priests have become the "first witnesses of the hell that frontline soldiers are living". Around 68 percent of Ukraine's population is religious, including 50 percent who are Orthodox. At the beginning of the war, there were only a handful of priests who worked as civilian volunteers with soldiers. In 2023, the government expanded the role of priests, who now have to sign a contract with the defence ministry and are considered soldiers, even if they do not fight and are not allowed to use a weapon.

Time magazine, meanwhile, talks about Ukraine's offer to rename a part of the Donbas as Donnyland in a bid to pander to Donald Trump! The magazine cites a New York Times article this week which reports that Ukrainian officials first floated the idea in a bid to get the Trump administration to take a hard line against Russia's territorial demands. As Time explains, they are not the first to try to appeal to Trump's megalomania. In 2018, Poland offered to allow a permanent US base in the country called Fort Trump. A year later, Benjamin Netanyahu said he would name a Golan Heights settlement "Trump Heights" after the US president recognised Israeli sovereignty there. In any case, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not comment on the proposal but reiterated his firmness that the Donbas is Ukrainian and should not become "Putinland", according to Kyiv Independent. 

We also focus on artificial intelligence in the press. The New York Times is looking at the rise of "Age Tech" in America. Americans, like many populations, are living longer. Around 75 percent of those over 50 surveyed in 2024 say they wish to spend their remaining years in their own homes rather than assisted living facilities. This has seen the rise of the "Age Tech" industry. It has seen the birth of products that could transform aged care, such as smart walkers, a mobility device that brakes and steers people away from roadside dangers while walking. Also: an AI-powered robot can remind users to take pills, does automated check-ins and even makes jokes!

Staying with AI, Sony's AI robot Ace has beaten elite table tennis players in what scientists are calling a landmark moment. The robot has learnt to compete with and sometimes beat some of the world's best table tennis players, the Times of London reports. Ace was built by Sony's AI researchers. Table tennis, with its blistering pace and complex spin, was seen as a monumental challenge for AI machines, which tend to excel at more cerebral games but not so much in physical environments. Sony says the breakthrough is pivotal and shows AI can operate at an expert human level, opening the door to a new class of real-world applications. 

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.