Nikon strips first prize from science competition winner over AI

Nikon revoked the top prize in its Small World in Motion microscopic videography competition after scientists flagged generative AI artifacts and structural errors in the winning entry. The winner from Tsinghua University admitted using AI in editing but said the original footage was not computer-generated. The prize went to an entrant from Vietnam.

• Nikon revoked the first prize from Dr. Ning Xu of Tsinghua University
• Scientists and former judges cited AI artifacts and structural flaws in the video
• The author admitted AI-assisted editing but denied generating the original images
• The first prize went to Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam for a video of a worm and a single-celled organism