Nikon adjusts rankings after first-place microscopy video violated generative AI rules

Nikon published its statement on October 9, 2026, saying that the video originally awarded first place in the 2026 Small World in Motion contest violated rules on generative AI.[1] The company said it re-evaluated the video and supporting materials, consulted members of the judging panel, and adjusted the rankings to reflect its decision.[1] The statement did not present the ruling as a judgment of the entrant’s professional reputation, scientific contributions or intent.[1] Nikon said its Small World competitions value the integrity of images and videos selected for their winning galleries.[1]

The winning entry came from Dr Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in China and showed cilia moving in the airway of a child with PCD.[2] The Verge reported that an unsupervised neural-network method was used for AI-assisted post-processing to distinguish and visualize features in reconstructed grayscale images from super-resolution optical imaging.[3] Xu said he believed his use of AI complied with the rules and that he cooperated with Nikon’s investigation.[2] Nikon’s contest accepts photographs and videos made using powerful microscopes.[2]

Researchers raised concerns that the video showed biologically implausible features that might have been hallucinated by AI.[4] Other researchers described structural abnormalities and features that appeared and disappeared in ways they said were not seen in cellular biology.[5] A BBC report said the cells and cilia looked nothing like those from PCD patients; a speaker cited 20 years of diagnosing PCD by examining cilia waveform, length, cell size and shape.[2] A microscopy community open letter called for the winning work to be externally examined and warned that a potentially misleading portrayal could shape public understanding of a rare disease that is already poorly understood.[6]

Nikon said the incident showed it needed to revisit the rules and evaluation procedures for future entries to both its Small World and Small World in Motion competitions.[1] The video contest is a video-focused offshoot of Nikon’s Small World photomicrography competition; the former was founded in 2011, while the latter dates to 1974.[5] The competition is open worldwide to anyone interested in film or time-lapse photography through a microscope.[6] Its first-place prize is worth US$3,000, or A$4,300.[6]