Nikon has disqualified the winning entry of its Small World In Motion contest after concluding that the video was built with generative AI, in breach of the competition’s rules.
The scientific photography competition accepts photographs and video made using powerful microscopes.
Nikon said the submission “did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI”, but said the ruling was not a judgement on the entrant’s professional reputation or scientific contributions.
The company said it acted “after thoroughly re-evaluating the video and supporting materials and consulting with members of our judging panel”.
Nikon said it will review the rules and procedures of the annual contest, which has run for 15 years and is dedicated to microscopic images.
The winning entry was submitted by Dr Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in China. It was a short video showing tiny, hair-like structures called cilia moving in the airway of a child with the respiratory condition PCD.
Several scientists, among them former competition judges, complained on Nikon’s LinkedIn page that the footage did not appear to be real.
Xu had said he used AI, but maintained that he believed he had stayed within the rules, and cooperated with Nikon’s investigation.
Dr Robert Hirst, a scientist at the University of Leicester and one of the first experts to raise concerns, said he was “not surprised” and that he “knew immediately that the video was fabricated”.
“I have been diagnosing PCD for 20 years by examining their cilia waveform, length, cell size and shape,” he said.
Hirst, who is lead scientist for the NHS centre for PCD diagnosis at the university, said the cells and cilia “look nothing like those from PCD patients”.
“This controversy has impacted a lot of patients, scientists, doctors and PCD support networks around the world,” he said.
The story was published on 9 October 2026 by the BBC’s Technology & AI desk.
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