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03 Oct 2026
Nvidia market value surge illustrated by a computer server and chip hardware

Nvidia Hits $5.7 Trillion — Even a Weak Jobs Report Couldn’t Stop It

Categories Tech

Nvidia stock jumped to a fresh intraday high on Friday, October 2, 2026, and the Nvidia market value surge pushed the chipmaker’s total worth above $5.7 trillion. The rally came the same day the U.S. government released a weak September jobs report. Soft hiring data usually rattles markets. This time, investors kept buying AI-related stocks instead, treating chipmakers as a safer bet for growth than the broader economy. Nvidia shares touched an intraday peak of $237.88, according to Yahoo Finance. The move extended a run that started a year earlier, when Nvidia first closed above $5 trillion in market value in October 2025. Friday’s figure marks a new, higher milestone, not a repeat of that earlier one.

Nvidia Market Value Surge By The Numbers

The broader market also had a strong day. The Nasdaq Composite rose 319.27 points, or 1.19%, to close at 27,190.86. The S&P 500 added 56.27 points, up 0.73%, to finish at 7,722.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 250.40 points, or 0.49%, to close at 51,176.96, according to Yahoo Finance. An intraday high reflects the peak price reached while markets are open, even if a stock closes lower by day’s end. Market capitalization, in turn, measures a company’s total value by multiplying its share price by its total number of outstanding shares — the yardstick investors use to judge company size.

Nvidia’s move stood out even against those gains. Hitting $237.88 a share pushed its total market capitalization past $5.7 trillion, a level no public company had reached before. Investors kept adding to AI-related positions throughout the session, and Nvidia led much of that buying. Because Nvidia ranks among the largest companies in the world by market value, its swings carry outsized weight across broad indexes like the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

AI Chip Demand Fuels Nvidia’s Market Surge

Demand for AI chips has stayed strong through 2026, and that demand sits behind most of Nvidia’s gains this year. Data center operators, cloud providers and AI developers continue to order Nvidia’s chips faster than rivals can match capacity. That demand has also lifted companies that supply Nvidia’s ecosystem, from memory makers to software partners. Micron’s latest earnings pointed to a broader AI memory boom, a sign the chip rally extends well beyond Nvidia alone. Analysts and investors alike are watching how long that order backlog can hold up, since it underpins much of the optimism behind Nvidia’s valuation this year.

Nvidia market value surge reflected on a stock market trading screen

Nvidia has also worked to broaden its footprint beyond raw chip sales. Last week, the company launched an open agent safety platform aimed at AI developers, part of a broader push to stay central to how companies build and deploy AI systems, not just the hardware that runs them. That kind of move matters because it ties Nvidia’s business more tightly to software and services, not only to chip orders that can slow in any given quarter.

Blackwell Chip Deals Behind Nvidia’s Valuation Surge

Friday’s $5.7 trillion figure builds on a milestone Nvidia reached almost exactly a year earlier. Nvidia first closed above $5 trillion in market value on October 29, 2025, according to a separate Yahoo Finance report from that date. That milestone followed comments from President Trump about discussing export approval for Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips with CEO Jensen Huang.

Nvidia also announced a slate of deals at a Washington D.C. event around that time. The agreements included seven new U.S. Department of Energy supercomputers built with 10,000 Blackwell GPUs, a self-driving-car partnership with Uber, and agreements with Eli Lilly, Nokia, Oracle, Palantir and telecom firms on 6G research. Those deals touched government computing, autonomous vehicles, pharmaceutical research, telecom infrastructure and cloud software all at once, which showed how far Nvidia’s chips had spread beyond data centers. That breadth, visible a year before this week’s $5.7 trillion milestone, helped set the stage for the sustained demand that has carried Nvidia’s valuation higher since.

China Export Rules Still Shadow Nvidia’s Market Value

Chip export policy toward China remains an open question for Nvidia. In July 2025, the White House struck a deal that would allow Nvidia’s H20 chip to reach Chinese customers in exchange for a 15% revenue-sharing arrangement with the U.S. government. A revenue-sharing arrangement like this one would have Nvidia share a cut of certain China sales with the U.S. government in exchange for export approval — a structure not typically used in chip export policy. As of the October 2025 report, that arrangement had not been formalized, and Nvidia reported zero H20 sales to China in its most recent quarterly report at the time.

A year on, the underlying tension has not gone away. Export rules shape how much of the Chinese market Nvidia can actually reach, and Chinese chipmakers have not stood still while the rules stay unsettled. DeepSeek and Huawei have been building their own chip tools, an effort to reduce China’s reliance on Nvidia hardware regardless of how Washington’s export policy eventually settles.

Where Nvidia’s Rally Goes From Here

Friday’s rally came against a backdrop of economic uncertainty. The September jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by just 29,000, far short of the 84,000 economists had expected, while unemployment held at 4.2%. That weak data pushed Treasury yields down, and investors moved into AI-related stocks that still look like a dependable growth story.

That pattern raises a real question: can AI-related stocks keep absorbing investor money every time other economic signals look shaky? For now, Nvidia’s position looks firm. Strong AI chip demand, a widening set of partnerships, and no sign of slowing orders all support the stock’s current levels. The unresolved China export question remains the clearest risk on the horizon, along with how long investors will keep treating AI stocks as a safe harbor from a cooling jobs market.

Nothing about Friday’s numbers guarantees where the stock goes next. Markets can reverse quickly, and a single trading session rarely settles a longer debate about valuation. What Friday did show is that, for now, AI chip demand has enough momentum to override a weak jobs report, at least for one of the world’s most closely watched stocks. Readers tracking the AI chip supply chain can follow the related threads above on Micron’s memory earnings, Nvidia’s new safety platform, and the Chinese chipmakers racing to catch up.

Nvidia’s Rally: Quick Answers

What pushed Nvidia’s market value past $5.7 trillion?

Nvidia shares hit an intraday peak of $237.88 on October 2, 2026, pushing its total market value above $5.7 trillion. Strong AI chip demand drove the move, even as a weak U.S. jobs report cooled other parts of the market.

When did Nvidia first reach a $5 trillion valuation?

Nvidia first closed above $5 trillion in market value on October 29, 2025, a year before this week’s $5.7 trillion milestone.

What drove Nvidia’s earlier $5 trillion milestone?

Comments from President Trump about discussing export approval for Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips with CEO Jensen Huang helped drive that milestone, along with a slate of deals Nvidia announced in Washington D.C., including Department of Energy supercomputer orders, a self-driving-car partnership with Uber, and agreements with Eli Lilly, Nokia, Oracle, Palantir and telecom firms.

What is the status of Nvidia’s H20 chip sales to China?

In July 2025, the White House struck a deal allowing Nvidia’s H20 chip to reach China in exchange for a 15% revenue-sharing arrangement with the U.S. government. As of the October 2025 report, that arrangement had not been formalized, and Nvidia had reported zero H20 sales to China in its most recent quarterly report.

How did the broader stock market perform on October 2, 2026?

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.19% to 27,190.86, the S&P 500 gained 0.73% to 7,722.72, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49% to 51,176.96.

Why did stocks rally despite weak jobs data?

The September jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls up just 29,000, versus 84,000 expected, with unemployment at 4.2%. That weak data pushed Treasury yields down, and investors shifted toward AI-related stocks as a safe haven for growth exposure.

Sources

03 Oct 2026
ChatGPT virtual try-on feature displayed in a shopping conversation

ChatGPT Will Now Show You Wearing the Clothes Before You Buy

Categories Tech

OpenAI rolled out a ChatGPT virtual try-on feature this week. It gives users a way to see clothing on their own photo before buying it. The company announced the tool on Thursday, October 1. A second new feature, called Favorites Library, launched alongside it. Both additions build on ChatGPT’s existing shopping results. Together they mark OpenAI’s latest push to turn the chatbot into a shopping assistant, not just a search tool for products.

With the new tool, a user uploads a selfie or a full-body photo. A “Try On” button then appears next to items in ChatGPT’s shopping results. Tap it, and ChatGPT generates an image showing that person wearing the item. Users are not limited to products ChatGPT surfaces on its own. They can also upload a photo of an item instead, such as a screenshot from a retailer’s website. ChatGPT will then simulate that item on them, using the uploaded photo as the base image.

ChatGPT can go further than a single try-on, too. A user can describe a style they want. ChatGPT will then shop for matching pieces across retailers. The chatbot can also identify clothing in a photo, such as an outfit a celebrity wore. From there it helps the user find similar items to buy.

How the ChatGPT Virtual Try-On Feature Works

The try-on tool sits inside a normal ChatGPT shopping conversation. It is not a separate app. Once a user uploads a reference photo, the “Try On” button appears next to eligible products automatically. Selecting it triggers an image-generation step. ChatGPT then returns a picture of that person, or body type, wearing the selected item.

ChatGPT virtual try-on feature shown on a smartphone shopping app

This two-way flexibility sets the feature apart from a basic size chart or fit guide. A user can start from OpenAI’s own shopping results or from their own screenshot of a product. Either way, the feature depends heavily on image quality. A poor render would undercut the whole point of trying something on before buying it.

Images 2.5 Powers the New Try-On Tool

The try-on tool and Favorites Library both run on Images 2.5. OpenAI released this new image-generation model alongside the shopping update. OpenAI says the model produces more natural lighting than its predecessor. It also says Images 2.5 renders richer textures and follows editing instructions more reliably. Generation latency has also come down, OpenAI says, so a try-on image should appear faster than before. Faster, more instruction-accurate generation matters for a feature built around back-and-forth edits, such as asking ChatGPT to show an item in a different color or fit.

Image quality and speed matter more for shopping than for many other ChatGPT tasks. A try-on image that looks obviously fake is unlikely to change anyone’s purchase decision. One that takes too long to generate carries the same risk. OpenAI is betting that Images 2.5 clears that bar well enough to make virtual try-on a feature people actually use.

A Favorites Library for Saved Looks

Favorites Library gives users a place to save products they find while chatting with ChatGPT. Saved items sit alongside any try-on images generated for them. A user can return later to compare looks or revisit something they considered buying earlier. OpenAI has not said how long saved items stay available. It has also not said whether the library syncs across devices. For now, OpenAI describes it simply as a new library for saved products and try-on images, built to sit next to the try-on tool rather than as a standalone feature.

AI Shopping Features Have Had a Mixed Run So Far

The virtual try-on launch follows an earlier OpenAI feature called Instant Checkout. That tool let users complete purchases directly inside ChatGPT. Instant Checkout launched earlier in 2026. It did not gain significant traction. OpenAI has not said whether virtual try-on is meant to revive interest in in-chat shopping generally, or whether it will stand on its own regardless of how people check out.

OpenAI is not the first company to offer this kind of tool. Google introduced a comparable virtual try-on feature in its own shopping products back in 2025. The rivalry between OpenAI and Google now extends across AI shopping tools, not just general-purpose models. Both companies are pushing to make their chatbots useful for everyday purchases, not just information lookups. Neither company has said how the two try-on approaches compare directly, since each relies on its own image-generation system and its own retail partnerships.

Virtual try-on also lands at a moment when OpenAI has been reassessing its own product lineup. The company’s recent decision to cancel another in-progress product shows OpenAI narrowing its roadmap, even as it adds consumer tools like this one. AI shopping and agent-style features are also drawing closer regulatory attention. A separate regulatory probe into AI agents acting on users’ behalf is already underway. It is a reminder that tools letting a chatbot shop, recommend, and now visualize purchases on a user’s own photo sit in an area regulators are watching more closely.

What’s Next for ChatGPT Shopping

OpenAI has not published a roadmap beyond this week’s announcement. The company has not said whether virtual try-on will expand beyond clothing, to categories like furniture or accessories. It also has not said whether Favorites Library will add sharing or sorting tools later. And OpenAI has not explained how virtual try-on interacts with Instant Checkout for someone who wants to try on an item and buy it in the same conversation.

What is clear is that OpenAI keeps investing in shopping as a ChatGPT use case, even after Instant Checkout’s slow start. Whether virtual try-on performs differently will depend on how realistic the Images 2.5 renders look to ordinary users. It will also depend on whether a try-on image is convincing enough to actually influence a purchase, rather than simply being a novelty people try once.

ChatGPT Shopping: Your Questions Answered

What is the ChatGPT virtual try-on feature?

It is a tool OpenAI added to ChatGPT that generates an image of a user wearing a clothing item, based on a selfie or full-body photo the user uploads.

How do I use virtual try-on in ChatGPT?

Upload a selfie or full-body photo in ChatGPT, then look for the “Try On” button next to items in shopping results. Selecting it generates the try-on image.

Can I try on an item from a store I found myself?

Yes. Users can upload a photo of an item, such as a screenshot from a retailer’s website, and ChatGPT will simulate that item on them instead of only using its own shopping results.

What is Favorites Library?

Favorites Library is a new ChatGPT feature that lets users save products they find, storing them alongside any try-on images generated for those items.

What model powers the new ChatGPT shopping features?

Both features run on Images 2.5, an image-generation model OpenAI says produces more natural lighting, richer textures, more reliable instruction-following, and lower generation latency than its predecessor.

Is this OpenAI’s first shopping feature in ChatGPT?

No. OpenAI launched Instant Checkout, a feature letting users complete purchases inside ChatGPT, earlier in 2026, though it did not gain significant traction.

For more on the companies racing to build AI shopping tools, see our coverage of Google’s own AI push, OpenAI’s recent product decisions, and the regulatory scrutiny facing AI agents.

Sources

02 Oct 2026
DAAD scholarship deadline - Heidelberg castle and Old Bridge

Two Scholarship Deadlines, Days Apart: Chevening and DAAD in October

Categories Germany, Scholarships, Study Abroad

The DAAD scholarship deadline for most master’s and PhD awards starting in 2027 falls on 15 October 2026, according to the uni2study deadline calendar. Chevening, the UK government’s scholarship, closes sooner, at 11:00 UTC on 6 October. If you plan to apply for either, you have days, not weeks.

On this page

The DAAD scholarship deadline and how it works

The German Academic Exchange Service, known as DAAD, funds study and research in Germany. uni2study says most master’s and PhD scholarships for entry in 2027 close on 15 October 2026, and some programmes run later into October. That is a secondary source, so treat the date as a guide and check your own programme.

DAAD says on its site that you can find the various scholarship types and suitable offers in its scholarship database. Use that database to confirm the exact closing date and required documents for the award you want. See the DAAD scholarship pages.

Chevening closes first: 6 October

Chevening’s own timeline for the 2027/28 cycle is clear. Applications opened on 4 August 2026 and close on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC. Late submissions are not accepted. Eligibility screening begins in October, and a reading committee reviews applications from October to January.

Shortlisted candidates are told in mid-February 2027, interviews run from March to April at British embassies, and results come in mid-June 2027. Scholars would start in the UK in September or October 2027. See the Chevening application timeline.

For more on the Chevening process, read our guide to the Chevening 2027-28 timeline.

DAAD scholarship deadline - Heidelberg old town on the Neckar at dusk

A realistic plan for the next two weeks

Start with documents. Most scholarships ask for transcripts, references, a personal statement and proof of language skills. These take time to collect, and referees need notice.

To illustrate, picture a Vietnamese engineering graduate comparing a master’s in Germany with one in the UK. They would list each award’s deadline, check the language requirement, and begin with the earliest closing date. This is a hypothetical example, not a real applicant.

Do not leave submission to the last hour. Chevening says its deadline is fixed, and the same discipline applies to DAAD.

Other scholarship rounds to watch

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters are different. uni2study notes that each consortium sets its own timeline, and deadlines run from November 2026 to February 2027. There is no single central date, so check each programme page.

Also see the Cambridge route in our guide to Gates Cambridge 2027 deadlines. If you are weighing countries and visa routes, our visa eligibility checker is a quick place to start.

Questions on the DAAD scholarship and Chevening

When is the DAAD scholarship deadline?

uni2study says most master’s and PhD scholarships for 2027 entry close on 15 October 2026. Some programmes run later. Confirm your own programme with DAAD.

When does Chevening close?

Chevening closes on 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC. Late submissions are not accepted.

When are Chevening results announced?

Chevening lists mid-June 2027 for results, with interviews in March and April 2027.

Are Erasmus Mundus deadlines the same?

No. Each consortium publishes its own timeline, with deadlines between November 2026 and February 2027, according to uni2study.

Where do I find DAAD scholarships?

DAAD says its scholarship database lists the scholarship types and suitable offers.

Sources

Image: Heidelberg old town, castle and Old Bridge, photo by R. J. Mathar, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Second image: evening view of Heidelberg old town and the Neckar, photo by Hartmut Schmidt Heidelberg, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

02 Oct 2026
ICC Axa contract - the International Criminal Court in The Hague

The ICC Just Lost Its Insurer to the Fear of US Sanctions

Categories Business, World

The ICC Axa contract has ended. The International Criminal Court terminated its agreement with French insurer Axa as the Trump administration weighs sweeping sanctions on the court, Al Jazeera reported on 1 October 2026, citing the Financial Times. Axa feared that sanctions would force it to stop serving the court, and both sides called off the deal by mutual agreement.

On this page

What happened to the ICC and Axa

The Hague-based court switched to another provider, which it did not name. Axa had previously provided life and health insurance to the institution. An ICC spokesperson said Axa and the court “decided by mutual agreement to terminate the contractual relationship”.

Al Jazeera reports that the termination took effect immediately and followed months of negotiation. In the end, both sides judged the arrangement unworkable, even with European legal protections such as blocking statutes.

ICC Axa contract - the International Criminal Court building in The Hague

The sanctions threat behind the insurer exit

The report sets out a short timeline. In August 2026, the Trump administration sanctioned the ICC president and others. In late September, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was preparing wider sanctions. On 24 September, Trump called the court “evil” and a “rogue institution” in his address to the UN General Assembly.

The administration objects to the court’s claimed authority over countries that have not ratified its founding treaty, including the United States and Israel. Broad sanctions could bar dealings that involve US dollars, which is why a European company with global exposure would hesitate.

Why the ICC Axa contract collapsed

Sanctions law reaches far beyond the countries that impose it. A bank or insurer anywhere can be cut off from dollar payments if it deals with a sanctioned party. For a company like Axa, the risk is not the size of one contract. It is the exposure of its whole business.

EU blocking statutes are meant to shield European firms from foreign sanctions. Al Jazeera’s report suggests they did not give Axa enough comfort here. That tension is likely to matter to other suppliers of the court, from banks to software vendors.

The episode also fits a wider pattern of Washington using financial pressure. Our report on US sanctions on an Iran-linked network covers a different target but a similar tool.

What happens next for the court

The court now has to keep staff covered under a new provider and watch for further supplier exits. Only Nauru has followed Trump’s call for countries to withdraw from the ICC, according to the report, so the political isolation remains limited.

European governments are the next test. If they want the court to keep functioning, they may need to back it with stronger legal or financial protections. For how Washington and its European partners handle other security questions, see our report on the US-Denmark security pact.

Common questions on the ICC and Axa

Why did the ICC end its Axa contract?

Axa feared that looming US sanctions would force it to stop working with the court. After months of talks, both sides agreed to end the contract, according to Al Jazeera.

Which insurer is the ICC using now?

The court switched to a provider it has not named.

Has the US sanctioned the ICC?

The Trump administration sanctioned the court’s president and others in August 2026. The Wall Street Journal reported in late September that wider sanctions were being prepared.

Do EU blocking statutes protect companies?

They are designed to. In this case, the report says both parties still concluded the arrangement was not viable.

Have other countries left the ICC?

According to the report, only Nauru has followed Trump’s call to withdraw.

Sources

Image: International Criminal Court building in The Hague, photos by OSeveno, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

02 Oct 2026
Canada work permit refusal - Toronto skyline at night

Canada Must Warn You Before Refusing a Work Permit Over a Job Offer

Categories Canada, Immigration, Work Permits

A Canada work permit refusal over a doubtful job offer now needs a warning first. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) updated its instructions on 17 September 2026 so that officers must send a procedural fairness letter before refusing an employer-specific work permit on genuineness grounds, according to CIC News.

Inside this guide

What changed for a Canada work permit refusal

IRCC’s updated bulletin, “Assessing the genuineness of the offer of employment on a work permit application”, ends the practice of summary refusals where officers doubt a job offer. Officers must now issue a procedural fairness letter, or PFL, and place the file on hold while they wait for an answer. The letter must set out the specific concerns about the genuineness of the offer.

You can read the rules in the official IRCC bulletin.

How long employers have to respond

CIC News reports that employers get 15 days, or the applicable office standard, to answer with documents. A 30-day review window then follows the employer’s deadline, during which officers assess the response.

Employment contracts are optional but officers may review them if submitted. In practice, strong evidence of a real business, real duties and real pay is the best defence.

Canada work permit refusal - Toronto skyline at sunset

Who the new Canada work permit rules cover

The change applies to all employer-specific work permit applicants. That includes workers under the International Mobility Program, whose permits are exempt from a labour market impact assessment, and applicants under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Employers who sponsor foreign workers are affected too.

To illustrate, imagine a Filipino care worker applying for a live-in caregiver role. The update exempts live-in caregivers from the “active engagement in business” requirement. That is an example of how the rules apply, not a real case.

The bulletin also removes physical location requirements for Canadian worksites, so home-based businesses can qualify. It clarifies that shell businesses used to bring foreign nationals into the country do not count as operating businesses.

What applicants should do next

Prepare your paperwork before you apply. Make sure the employer can show real operations, payroll records and a clear job description. If a PFL arrives, answer within the deadline and address each concern directly.

For wider context on timing, read our updates on Canada processing times and the latest Express Entry draw. You can also check your options with our visa eligibility checker.

Your Canada work permit questions answered

When did the Canada work permit instructions change?

IRCC published the updated instructions on 17 September 2026, according to CIC News.

What is a procedural fairness letter?

It is a letter in which an officer sets out specific concerns about your application and gives you a chance to respond before a decision.

How long do employers have to respond?

15 days, or the applicable office standard, followed by a 30-day review window.

Are home-based businesses allowed now?

Yes. The update removes physical location requirements and says home-based businesses can qualify.

Do live-in caregivers have to show active engagement in the business?

No. Live-in caregivers are exempt from that requirement under the update.

Sources

Image: Toronto skyline at night by Wladyslaw, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Second image: Toronto skyline at sunset by Jchmrt, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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