Nikon’s Small World in Motion contest, created in 2011 as the video counterpart to its long-running photomicrography competition, is meant to celebrate the scientific and artistic possibilities of microscope imaging. Its rules, however, explicitly bar AI-generated videos and allow the sponsor to demand original footage for verification.¹

The controversy began after Ning Xu of Tsinghua University won first place for a video showing cilia beating in the airway of a child with a rare respiratory disorder. Researchers subsequently raised alarms over apparent structural irregularities: cellular features seemed to appear and vanish in ways they said did not resemble real biology. Some also reported what looked like AI watermarks in source files.²

Xu did not dispute using AI in his workflow, but drew a firm distinction over what it did. He said it was used “to distinguish and visualize features in the reconstructed grayscale images,” while denying it generated “the experimental movie, the cilia, or their motion.”²

After weeks of scrutiny, Nikon re-examined the video and supporting materials with its judges. The company said the winning entry “did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI,” and revoked the award.² Nikon stressed that the decision concerned eligibility alone, not Xu’s professional reputation, scientific contributions or intent.²

The reshuffle elevated Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam to first place for a video featuring a tiny roundworm and a single-celled organism. Other finalists also moved up the rankings.² Nikon says the episode has exposed a broader problem: as AI and imaging tools evolve, the contest will revisit its rules and evaluation procedures.²