Nikon Disqualifies AI-Generated Winner of Small World in Motion Contest
10/10/2026 — 10/10, 02:17·1 sources (all)·1 reports (all)·In the 2026-10-10 briefing
Key takeaways
- Nikon has stripped the top prize from its Small World in Motion video contest after the winning entry violated the competition's generative-…
- Nguyen Nam Nhat now holds first place, and Nikon says it will review the contest rules.
Background & analysis
On October 10, 2026, The Verge reported that Nikon had disqualified the original first-place entry in its Small World in Motion microscopy video contest. According to Nikon, the video "did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI," and it has been removed from the company's website. The BBC reported that the original winning entry came from Dr. Ning Xu and was said to show tiny, hair-like structures called cilia moving in the airway of a child. Ning Xu has acknowledged on LinkedIn that he used an unsupervised neural network method for AI-assisted post-processing.
The first-place position has since gone to an entry by Nguyen Nam Nhat. Nikon said it is revisiting its competition rules. The reports did not specify when the disqualified entry was submitted, how it was judged, or what direction or timeline Nikon's rule review might take.
AI-generated from 1 reports · updated 47 minutes ago
Latest turnNikon has disqualified the original first-place video in its Small World in Motion contest, saying it did not comply with the competition's rules on generative AI. According to the BBC, the entry came from Dr. Ning Xu, who acknowledged on LinkedIn using an unsupervised neural-network method for AI-assisted post-processing. The video has been pulled from Nikon's site, Nguyen Nam Nhat now holds first place, and Nikon says it is revisiting its contest rules.
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Nikon has disqualified the original first-place video in its Small World in Motion contest, saying it did not comply with the competition's rules on generative AI. According to the BBC, the entry came from Dr. Ning Xu, who acknowledged on LinkedIn using an unsupervised neural-network method for AI-assisted post-processing. The video has been pulled from Nikon's site, Nguyen Nam Nhat now holds first place, and Nikon says it is revisiting its contest rules.
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