Nikon Names New 2026 Small World in Motion Winner After AI Use

Nikon has named Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam the winner of its 2026 Small World in Motion competition after disqualifying the original winning video over undisclosed artificial intelligence use, Ars Technica reported on Oct. 9, 2026.

Who is the new first-place winner?

Nguyen Nam Nhat now holds the top spot for a video showing a roundworm alongside a single-celled organism called Dileptus, according to Ars Technica. Nikon updated the rankings on its competition website to reflect the change.

Why was the original winner disqualified?

Nikon had initially awarded first place to Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in China for a video depicting cilia beating in the airways of a child with a rare respiratory disorder, Ars Technica reported. After the win was announced last month, researchers raised concerns about the footage. A BBC report cited by Ars Technica said some scientists flagged structural abnormalities and noted that cell features appeared and disappeared in ways inconsistent with actual cellular biology. Other researchers said they spotted what looked like AI watermarks embedded in the video's source files, according to the same report.

Nikon said it reevaluated the video and supporting materials with its judging panel and "determined that the winning video did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI," according to a statement the company issued and that Ars Technica published in full. Nikon added that the finding "should not be interpreted as a judgment of the entrant's professional reputation, scientific contributions, or intent."

What did Xu say about the AI allegations?

Xu said he used AI "to distinguish and visualize features in the reconstructed grayscale images," Ars Technica reported. He denied using AI "to generate the experimental movie, the cilia, or their motion."

How did the rest of the rankings shift?

With Xu's entry removed, four other finalists each moved up one position, Ars Technica reported. Benedikt Pleyer of Bavaria, Germany, rose to second place for a video of jellyfish larvae suspended in water droplets. Andrew Moore of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute took third for footage of synchronized cell division in neighboring cells. Patrick Hickey of Hypha Research Ltd. in Edinburgh, Scotland, moved to fourth with a video of mitochondria and chloroplast dynamics in Turtle Vine leaf cells. Igor Adameyko placed fifth for a video of a sea slug, Cyerce kikutarobabai, in motion.

Timeline

• 2011: Nikon launches Small World in Motion as a video spinoff of its Small World Photomicrography Competition, running since 1974.
• Last month: Nikon announces Ning Xu's cilia video as the 2026 winner; researchers soon raise concerns about AI-generated artifacts.
• Oct. 9, 2026: Nikon disqualifies Xu's entry and names Nguyen Nam Nhat the new first-place winner, Ars Technica reported.

What's next for the competition's AI rules?

Nikon said the episode "has shown the need" for both Small World competitions "to revisit rules and evaluation procedures for future competition entries," according to its statement.

What to watch:

• Whether Nikon publishes revised AI-disclosure rules before the next competition cycle.
• Whether other past entries face similar re-review.
• How judges verify raw source files for future submissions.

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