Nikon disqualifies its Small World in Motion winning video under its generative AI rules

The video showed airway cilia beating in a child with a rare lung disorder, and the motion was the whole point.

By Think Facility · October 10, 2026 · Nikon Generative AI

On October 9, 2026, Nikon said the video that won this year's Small World in Motion competition didn't comply with the contest's rules on generative AI, and it redrew the rankings. The winner it had announced on September 16 was Dr. Ning Xu, listed in Nikon's release under Tsinghua University.

Nguyen Nam Nhat, whose video of a tiny roundworm and a single-celled Dileptus came second, is now first. Benedikt Pleyer's jellyfish larvae moved up from third to second.

Competition: 16th annual Nikon Small World in Motion
Original winner: Dr. Ning Xu, Tsinghua University
Video: abnormal beating of airway cilia in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia
New 1st place: Nguyen Nam Nhat

What Nikon said

Nikon went back over the video and the supporting materials, and talked to members of its judging panel, before it ruled. Then it drew a line around the ruling.

A white, layered office building with deep overhanging floors behind trees, a Nikon sign by the entrance steps and taxis at a crossing — Nikon's headquarters and museum in Tokyo, June 2025. Photo: 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This decision is based solely on the submitted video's eligibility under the rules outlined for this competition. It should not be interpreted as a judgment of the entrant's professional reputation, scientific contributions, or intent.

From Nikon Small World in Motion Video Statement | News | Nikon Small World

Which part of the video broke the rules? Nikon didn't say, and it didn't say how it found out. There's no response from Xu in the statement. The rule itself is one sentence long:

AI generated videos are not permitted and Sponsor holds the right to request the original video for verification

From Small World In Motion Rules | Nikon Small World Entry Portal

What the video was meant to show

Nikon's September release described the video as cilia, the tiny hairs lining the airways, beating abnormally in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia. Xu and his collaborators captured it with diffractive super-resolution microscopy, shaping the light with a digital micromirror device to catch fast movement while keeping light on the sample low.

The release quoted Xu on why he filmed it.

To understand this disease, you need to watch the cilia through dozens of beat cycles, not just a still image

From 16th Annual Nikon Small World in Motion Competition Winner Captures Abnormal Movement of Airway Cilia in a Child with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

I think that's why this one matters more than a doctored photo would. In this video the movement is the finding. If a generative tool drew any of it, the cilia on screen stop being evidence of how a sick child's airways behave, and a viewer has no way to tell.

What changes now

Nikon says the episode showed it has to revisit how it writes and checks the rules for future entries, in both competitions. It didn't give a date. (The current rules already let it ask entrants for the original video.)

The photomicrography competition's rules carry the same line for still images, along with the same right to request the original file for verification.