Nikon has disqualified the winning entry of its Small World in Motion competition due to a violation of rules concerning generative AI. The video, submitted by Dr. Ning Xu, originally claimed to depict cilia in a child's airway, but the company removed it after investigating concerns about its authenticity.
Dr. Xu acknowledged using an unsupervised neural-network method for AI-assisted post-processing to visualize features in reconstructed images. Following the disqualification, Nikon updated the contest rankings, awarding first place to Nguyen Nam Nhat.
In response to the incident, Nikon stated it intends to review its rules and evaluation procedures for future competitions. The company clarified that the disqualification does not reflect on the entrant's scientific contributions or professional reputation.
