stuck on the runway — boeing plane deliveries drop to the lowest level since the pandemic. and cashing in on trump's china tariff threats — india's tech businesses look to pick up the slack. live from london, this is business today. i'm tadhg enright. we start in the uk, where pressure on the government's handling of the economy has been mounting as the cost of borrowing has soared and the pound has slipped. as markets seem to be questioning if the uk's economic strategy is right. speaking to parliament on tuesday, chancellor rachel reeves said she was "under no illusion" about the scale of the challenge on the economy. but she pointed out that the uk was not alone as borrowing costs around the world were on the increase.

leadership is not about ducking these challenges, it is about rising to them. the economic headwinds we face are a reminder we should, we must go further and faster and i plan to kickstart economic growth that plunged under the last government. well, part of that apparent need for speed — what the bbc has been told — will come in the form of fast tracking its industrial strategy — with more announcements like this week's ai push on the cards. but the focus today will be on the latest inflation figures due out this morning for december. it edged up to 2.6% in november — the second monthly climb in a row. expectations our it will remain around this figure but we will have to wait and see. simon french is chief economist and head of research at panmure liberum. what are you expecting to hear

from this inflation figure coming out?— from this inflation figure coming out? from this inflation figure cominu out? ., ., ~ coming out? you have 2.6 as market consensus, _ coming out? you have 2.6 as. market consensus, economists surveyed. the real risk for markets, for the cost of government borrowing is we see an upside maze, 2.7, 2.8 and they are fears rather than confirmation from some surveys those payroll taxes, the employer national insurance increases announced in october will start to pass through two and prices paid for by consumers and thatjust will mean a higher inflation scenario in the uk and a higher cost of government borrowing compared to european neighbours in particular. we compared to european neighbours in particular-— in particular. we heard rachel reeves making _ in particular. we heard rachel reeves making the _ in particular. we heard rachel reeves making the case - in particular. we heard rachel reeves making the case the i in particular. we heard rachell reeves making the case the uk is not alone in suffering this surge in borrowing costs. what is your analysis of that as a defence?—

is your analysis of that as a defence? . , . defence? verifiable defence. i would say _ defence? verifiable defence. i would say it — defence? verifiable defence. i would say it is _ defence? verifiable defence. i would say it is 80-20 - defence? verifiable defence. i would say it is 80-20 in - defence? verifiable defence. i | would say it is 80-20 in favour would say it is 80—20 in favour of their argument. most of the move has been because of strong us economic data on inflation and thejobs side, we have us economic data on inflation and the jobs side, we have also heard from president—elect trump about potential for tariffs which could be inflationary, all received badly by global bond investors and the uk isjust party badly by global bond investors and the uk is just party to that but i would say there is that but i would say there is that 20, decreases and the bites, the tail risk associated with the budget, with the obvious slowdown in the economy since the general election in july last year. since the general election in july last year-— july last year. indeed, the buduet july last year. indeed, the budget announced - july last year. indeed, the budget announced last - july last year. indeed, the i budget announced last year, difficult choices ahead for rachel reeves. she ruled out borrowing to fund day—to—day expenses before the election. now the choice is raise taxes or cut spending. if you're trying to reserve growth, if you were in her shoes, what choice would you make? i would

start by reducing _ choice would you make? i would start by reducing spending - start by reducing spending rather than taxes but is there a third way at the risk of channelling that phrase? i think there possibly is and why we've heard these announcements this week on artificial intelligence, i expect to hear more on planning as we go through the next few weeks, not necessarily to convince the markets but convince the budgetary watchdog to analyse these as being growth accretive, adding to uk growth. if she can do that before the 26th of march the next time the cpr 26th of march the next time the opr report, the headroom increases and gets her out of her own black hole.— increases and gets her out of her own black hole. thank you very much _ her own black hole. thank you very much for— her own black hole. thank you very much for that. _ the social media giant meta has announced it's cutting 5% of its workforce. the company behind facebook, instagram and whatsapp says it expects 2025 to be an intense year. microsoft is also pausing recruitment in a major unit in america as part of its

cost—cutting plans. from new york, michelle fleury has more. in a memo to staff, meta ceo mark zuckerberg said 2025 will be an intense year for the company as it works on building what he describes as some of the most important technologies in the world. mr zuckerberg went on to say in order to raise the performance of meta staff, the company would take steps to move out low—performing employees faster than originally planned. currently, meta employs some 72,000 people. cutting 5% of its payroll will be its first major staff reduction since it shed a quarter of its workforce in 2022 and �*23. meanwhile, microsoft has also given a signal jobs may be becoming harder to come by in the us technology sector. it told its workers on tuesday it plans to pause hiring in its consulting arm in america.

this comes only a week after it announced a round of lay—offs. swetha ramachandran is fund manager at artemis investment management. why do you think meta is expecting an intense year? certainly we are all inaudible investment shows no sign of letting up. the big spenders will be spending anywhere between 250 billions to $300 billion between them end a i spend, in capital spending. that is likely to be a reason for this intensity to generate these large language models that will win the day. to what extent do _ that will win the day. to what extent do you _ that will win the day. to what extent do you think— that will win the day. to what extent do you think there - that will win the day. to what extent do you think there is l extent do you think there is concerned that companies have overspent on al in the past few years? overspent on al in the past few ears? , , .,

years? definitely an emerging concern the _ years? definitely an emerging concern the market _ years? definitely an emerging concern the market seems - concern the market seems focused on. the companies, at the same time as they have out spending have seen huge leaps in cash flows because margins have gone up and that has allowed them to find this increased spending, not that increased spending, not that increased spending, not that increased spending is coming necessarily at the expense of shareholders or other investment areas. it has been funded out of healthy cash flow expansion because of how well the underlying businesses have been doing. we the underlying businesses have been doing-— been doing. we heard mark zuckerberg _ been doing. we heard mark zuckerberg talking - been doing. we heard mark zuckerberg talking about i zuckerberg talking about cutting low performers. does that signal a greater reluctance debate on what might be the next big thing? will that apply to the wider tech sector? i that apply to the wider tech sector? ~ , , sector? i think this is specific _ sector? i think this is specific and - sector? i think this is specific and more - sector? i think this is i specific and more about sector? i think this is - specific and more about human talent where there was an over indexing and hiring in 2021 which has been unwinding and this is possibly another phase of that. companies are at this

moment prioritising hardware spending overspending on human capital which is also a reason they allow the company to deploy more spent towards areas such as ai. deploy more spent towards areas such as al— such as ai. investors have also been betting — such as ai. investors have also been betting big _ such as ai. investors have also been betting big on _ such as ai. investors have also been betting big on al - such as ai. investors have also been betting big on al but - been betting big on al but based on what we are seeing, would you expect perhaps some investor retrenchment in the year ahead? i investor retrenchment in the year ahead?— year ahead? i think that will de-end year ahead? i think that will depend on _ year ahead? i think that will depend on if _ year ahead? i think that will depend on if the _ year ahead? i think that will l depend on if the monetisation of these ai efforts comes through. it is still early days and the companies still continue to deliver healthy cash flow margins which is a source of optimism that what we need to see is all those ai investments come good in terms of able tomb be monetised in their investment line. ——2. —— to. staying with tech

and to the company at the forefront of the ai revolution, openai. the firm behind chatgpt has just added a wall street dealmaker, billionaire investor adebayo ogunlesi to its board as it changes its focus to become a for—profit company. it was valued recently at $150 billion, and openai's move to shift away from its not—for—profit begininngs has faced strong criticism from rivals, including elon musk, who was one of openai's co—founders. he's filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the restructuring, accusing openai and its boss, sam altman, of teaming up with microsoft to create an illegal monopoly. max von thun is director of europe & transatlantic partnerships at the think tank the open markets institute. how does the appointment of adebayo ogunlesi, a senior managing director at blackrock, help with its new mission?

i think adebayo ogunlesi is a big name on wall street, has advised many leading companies. i think for openai this point is about signalling to investors openai is serious about growth and has a serious plan for commercialising its ai technologies in a market that is increasingly competitive. what does commercialising their mean? what do we expect openai to do differently under its new direction? i think it is about showing technologies like chatgpt and other models that open a high have developed have viable use cases for consumers, for businesses that are capable of generating a stable long—term

revenue stream for openai, despite the fact there has been a lot of attention around openai technologies, they have not really proved that kind of long—term viability yet. we long-term viability yet. we were long—term viability yet. we were mentioning a moment ago the lawsuit elon musk is taking against openai, accusing it of joining up with microsoft in a monopolistic fashion. what are your thoughts on the merits of that case?— your thoughts on the merits of that case? ., ., . ., , that case? there are two claims or two key _ that case? there are two claims or two key claims _ that case? there are two claims or two key claims that - that case? there are two claims or two key claims that are - that case? there are two claims or two key claims that are part l or two key claims that are part of his lawsuit. the first is in moving away from a nonprofit status to a for—profit status openai is abandoning its original mission to develop it for the benefit of humanity and the second is that openai in collaborating with microsoft is attempting to monopolise the ai industry. in terms of that first claim, i am sceptical.

part of the reason is actually one elon musk was at openai, one elon musk was at openai, one of the original cofounders, he leaked... leaked e—mail showed he was pushing openai to become a for profit, to make it easier to raise money, for example. in terms of that ground, ithink example. in terms of that ground, i think that is more about elon musk trying to basically undermine a direct competitor. he has since started his own ai company, so i think targeting its restructuring is a useful way of bogging them down legally. in terms of that second argument about monopoly i think actually elon musk is absolutely right, even though i am not necessarily sure about how genuine his intentions are. microsoft has invested about $13 billion in openai, has the right to the majority of its profits and has privileged access to its technology and that has enabled microsoft to take an early lead in the ai

market and become increasingly dominant and also to prevent openai from competing directly and so i think from a fair competition perspective, that is concerning so elon musk has a point. it is concerning so elon musk has a oint. ., ., , ., a point. it would not be a business _ a point. it would not be a business programme - a point. it would not be a business programme if . a point. it would not be a| business programme if we a point. it would not be a - business programme if we were not talking about elon musk, lots of different jobs not talking about elon musk, lots of differentjobs but the one occupying most bandwidth is that of trump whisperer. his tesla carmaker has ambitions in the ai space, so i wonder what influence or whispers he is happening in donald trump's hears about that. this happening in donald trump's hears about that.— happening in donald trump's hears about that. as you say he has developed _ hears about that. as you say he has developed a _ has developed a close relationship with donald trump particularly following the recent presidential campaign. i think part of that is about elon musk�*s political ambitions and his increasingly brazen intervention in political processes in the uk and germany. but i think there are

also financial reasons for his proximity to the president and i think he thinks he can get potential benefits through that, notjust his luck, but if you look at other companies he owns, for example, spacex, it receives very lucrative federal contracts and i think he would like to make sure those income streams keep coming in. i also think he potentially thinks there is potential to sell his open ai services into government so a mixture of ideology and self interest driving him here.- ideology and self interest driving him here. thank you for that. let's get some of the day's other news now. the us markets watchdog — the sec — is suing elon musk, alleging he failed to disclose a large number of shares that he'd bought in twitter before declaring his intention to take over the platform. the lawsuit alleges that the tesla boss saved $150 million, buying the shares at "artificially low prices".

responding, mr musk called the sec a "totally broken organisation." us chipmaker intel has said it will separate its venture capital and investment arm into a standalone company as it seeks to cut costs and increase efficiency. intel capital — a prominent tech investor with more than $5 billion in assets is expected to separate in the second half of this year and will get a new name. intel would remain an anchor investor in the new venture fund. coming up on business today, making the most of trump's tariffs that, we look at countries looking to fill the 93p- —— we take a look at indian businesses looking to fill the gap. around the world and across the uk,

this is bbc news. the company behind tiktok has moved to reassure its staff that they'll still be paid next week, even if the us supreme court upholds

a biden administration law which says the apps american business must be sold off or closed down. the law comes into effect on sunday. for more, mariko oi is in our asia business hub for us. you can't blame employees for being worried. absolutely, we keep talking about tiktok users in america, but by dance, the parent company, also employs 7000 staff in the us and there were reports about how they have been voicing concerns aboutjob have been voicing concerns about job security and have been voicing concerns aboutjob security and in an internal memo that has been reviewed