and is there a crisis in gaming, as companies like sony and microsoft slash jobs. welcome to world business report. we start in the uk where there's been confirmation of one of the most important investments in the country's motor industry for decades. this is the giant electric car battery factory to be built in somerset by the indian conglomerate tata. it's a major boost for the uk's ambitions to become a real player in the electric car market. it will create 4,000 jobs, and thousands more in the wider economy. tata is investing £4 billion in the project. let's speak now to professor david bailey from birmingham business school. thank you so much forjoining us. just talk us through why this is such a huge deal. this just talk us through why this is such a huge deal.— just talk us through why this is such a huge deal. this is probably

the biggest _ such a huge deal. this is probably the biggest investment _ such a huge deal. this is probably the biggest investment in - such a huge deal. this is probably the biggest investment in uk - the biggest investment in uk automotive since nissan back in the 19805. it automotive since nissan back in the 1980s. it really is a game changer. the uk had been lagging behind badly in terms of electrification, and unless we have factory making at scale in the uk, we aren't going to seem cars made here and we are going to have an industry. this is critical for uk or two, to have an industry. this is criticalfor uk or two, and really good news. critical for uk or two, and really good new-— critical for uk or two, and really aood news. , , .,~ �* ., critical for uk or two, and really aood news. , , �* ., ., good news. does this make britain a otential good news. does this make britain a potential world _ good news. does this make britain a potential world player _ good news. does this make britain a potential world player in _ good news. does this make britain a potential world player in the - good news. does this make britain a potential world player in the ev - potential world player in the ev market? it potential world player in the ev market? ~ , , potential world player in the ev market? ~ ,, , market? it keeps us in the race. without this _ market? it keeps us in the race. without this kind _ market? it keeps us in the race. without this kind of _ market? it keeps us in the race. without this kind of investment | market? it keeps us in the race. i without this kind of investment we are simply not going to have a car industry going forwards. it is really important. we are going to need much more than this. essentially there have been two big battery announcements. 0ne about sunderland, linked to nissan. this by tata. the only really gets is half way to where we need in terms of battery capacity. the really important step, but we need a lot

more in order to sustain an automotive industry that is transforming.— automotive industry that is transforming. automotive industry that is transforminu. ., transforming. when you say we need a lot more, transforming. when you say we need a lot more. what — transforming. when you say we need a lot more, what you _ transforming. when you say we need a lot more, what you mean? _ transforming. when you say we need a lot more, what you mean? we - transforming. when you say we need a lot more, what you mean? we need i lot more, what you mean? we need more battery _ lot more, what you mean? we need more battery manufacturing - lot more, what you mean? we need more battery manufacturing plants, | more battery manufacturing plants, more battery manufacturing plants, more of these giga factories. without that we aren't going to keep car production in the uk. the key thing is batteries are actually quite heavy. they are difficult to move around, they are expensive to move. so car production in the future is going to go where batteries are made. if we don't make batteries are made. if we don't make batteries at scale we won't have a car industry. this is usually important, but we need much more of this. in important, but we need much more of this. , ., ., , ., ., , , important, but we need much more of this. , ., ., , ., , ., this. in terms of affordability of electric vehicles, _ this. in terms of affordability of electric vehicles, is _ this. in terms of affordability of electric vehicles, is this - this. in terms of affordability of electric vehicles, is this going l this. in terms of affordability of| electric vehicles, is this going to play into that at all, do you think? yes, i think it will. if you think about what we have seen, china has been doing this for 25 years. they have massive experience now in making batteries, and at scale. by operating at scale they can get their costs right down. china has a

25 to 30% cost advantage over the europe in making batteries and battery electric cars. we have got to do something similar. we have to scale up battery production and the components that go into them, in order to make electric vehicles cheaper. this is really important in getting costs down, making electric vehicles attractive to people, and really enabling the industry to take off. ., ~ _, really enabling the industry to take off. ., ~ really enabling the industry to take off. ., . michelle fleury has all the answers. why is it doing this? it is michelle fleury has all the answers. why is it doing this?— why is it doing this? it is an astonishing _ why is it doing this? it is an astonishing thing. - why is it doing this? it is an astonishing thing. when - why is it doing this? it is an| astonishing thing. when you why is it doing this? it is an - astonishing thing. when you think back, apple did start with lofty ambitions. foryears back, apple did start with lofty ambitions. for years it was rumoured that they wanted to build their own electric car. there was talk it wouldn't have a steering wheel or any pedals. here we are, after a decade of these rumours, presumably

after spending billions of dollars, now they appear to have abandoned it, and what we understand is, the reason for this is they want to focus on other things, in particular generative ai, which obviously, at the moment, is the hot thing when you look at the tech market. it will be interesting to see... it increases the pressure, let's say, an apple to deliver. having sent the live spent so much money on this and to abandon it now, people are going to abandon it now, people are going to want to see, certainly from investors, that apple can deliver, both on al but also on the headsets that they have recently announced and been touting around. what and been touting around. what exactly will _ and been touting around. what exactly will the _ and been touting around. what exactly will the investors - and been touting around. what exactly will the investors be . exactly will the investors be looking for in terms of this increased focus on al? what will investors be looking for? i increased focus on al? what will investors be looking for?- investors be looking for? i think the are investors be looking for? i think they are looking _ investors be looking for? i think they are looking for— investors be looking for? i think they are looking for something l they are looking for something transformative. if you think about what the iphone did as a product, when it came out, and how, after all these years, it is such an important

piece of technology that so many people around the world are using. people were looking at apple to transform the auto industry when we started to hear these rumours about focusing on an ev car. the idea is there is going to be pressure on them to do something like that in generative ai. you have got microsoft, chatgpt, google that has its own version called gemini. they want to go and see the apple can deliver something that leads the way in that area. the other thing is the company has already been touting its headsets, saying that is going to be something of the future. again we are going to have to see whether consumers really adopted and whether it is transformative, but i think the pressure is now on the company to deliver that and internally you are going to see a lot more focus on that. bloomberg is reporting that some of the team that worked on this project will be moved to the artificial intelligence division, so now all eyes are on apple to see what they can actually deliver.

thank you so much for your insights. see you again soon. now, what's going in the gaming world? it's been a volatile few months for the industry with many workers being laid off. on tuesday, sony announced it was cutting 900 jobs in its playstation operation. earlier this month microsoft laid off almost 2,000 people from its gaming division. that's on top of news that the gaming software company unity, was also losing almost 2,000 jobs. earlier i spoke to conor clarke, from the gaming company boneloaf. i asked him if the sector was in crisis. i mean, if you'd asked me a few months ago, i would have said no, absolutely, you know, crisis is quite a strong word. but actually, you know, as things continue, i think it could very well be described a crisis, yeah. but why is there a crisis, what's behind it? it's difficult to say. i think a lot of it does parallel many similar conversations people having in tech in general that, you know, increased interest rates are causing many companies to kind of revise their predictions

and particularly their growth predictions. the gaming industry has historically been one that has been relatively recession proof, i suppose. both in 2008 and 2020 it saw growth in that time rather than many of the other industries, particularly creative and cultural industries that obviously had to kind of shrink at that time. so it's relatively quite shocking period, i suppose, in that people, many companies are starting to make cuts and people are starting to lose theirjobs, yeah. what are you seeing on the ground when when you carry out your operations? so i'm seeing a lot of my peers and, you know, a lot of my friends and people i really admire in the industry are starting to kind of lose theirjobs. and it is kind of scary on that on that side of things. it's...for many people i speak to, they believe that it is essentially 2024 and quite a lot of 2023 as well

is being viewed as a course correction and that once we hit 2025, things will start to kind of increase and growth will start to continue again. however, obviously that's with my crystal ball and you know, things are going to be... i don't think we can really make totally accurate predictions until that time. what about consumer demand? are we slightly falling out of love with video games? not necessarily, no. you know, i think player accounts are still definitely kind of on the up and we are kind of still reaching newer players every single day, you know, the industry as a whole. i think perhaps there is a chance that after, it was only three, four years ago that everybody was kind of locked inside and gaming saw a massive increase in players and suddenly had everybody was staying at home playing games online with their friends. 0bviously now that the world has returned to kind of normal, i suppose, people are going outside a bit more and video games are becoming perhaps less... played a lot less compared to that period.

however, in general, you know, people are very excited for games and for new upcoming consoles. you know, people are talking quite a lot about the upcoming new nintendo switch, for example, and people are very excited about that. so i don't think they are necessarily falling out of love with games, but perhaps that growth is slowing compared to three or four years ago. gibson guitars is one of the most famous guitar brands in the world — finding favour with artists from every genre. it makes all sorts of guitars, both acoustic and electric — and they're all still made in america. but it's just opened its first shop outside the us — right here in london. and led zeppelin�*sjimmy page cut the ribbon. sally bundock has been speaking to the company boss cesar gway quen. what's happening is the gibson garage in london, which is a brand new space where we are really looking forward to being part of the music community, where you can come explore, you can come in and really explore

anything about gibson, look at all of our instruments. everything is available to be played. there's hundreds of instruments here available to be played, all the way from epiphones, which are more affordable entry level instruments, all the way up to the custom shop premium offering that we have. why did it take you so long? oh, that's a very good question. i guess you could in one way say it took us 130 years since 0rville started making instruments. we wanted this to be a real experience and so it's it's a curated experience. it's not about retail, it's really not about it. it's about delivering this amazing experience and so as such, we wanted the experience to be of the quality of gibson. and so we opened in nashville two years ago. we tested the concept. we became part of the music community in nashville, and we've anchored the garage in the centre of

culture of nashville. and so we've learned from that and now we've brought it to london. and london has been, for decades, at the forefront of music innovation. think about the beatles, led zeppelin, black sabbath, queen, and the list goes on and on and on from iron maiden, judas priest, all of these amazing bands that have come out of the music scene here that have become transformational in terms of music genres. and so we chose london and we really spent time curating the experience. some of the most famous musicians in the world play gibson guitars, it's a very strong brand. but how do you make that accessible for all, you know, the future musicians of tomorrow? the number one reason why somebody, any fan will decide what kind of guitar they're going to pick up is usually because their favorite artist plays. and so for us, it's a big

responsibility to make sure that we're making the best quality instruments that we've ever made. that's our challenge. and and then work very closely with all of our artists across the generations of artists, from all the icons, all the way to the young generations of players. and what we do is, by having a place like this, by having the gibson garage in london, we can now work individually with each music fan and see what is the best option for you. that's it for me. sport is next.

and there is your welterweight champion. it and there is your welterweight chamion. , and there is your welterweight champion-— and there is your welterweight chamion. , , ., champion. it is everyday training, there are no _ champion. it is everyday training, there are no days _ champion. it is everyday training, there are no days off. _ champion. it is everyday training, there are no days off. even - champion. it is everyday training, there are no days off. even afterl there are no days off. even after there are no days off. even after the fight, — there are no days off. even after the fight, straight and after two days obviously for the next fight. at amateur level you can keep going as much_ at amateur level you can keep going as much as — at amateur level you can keep going as much as you can with not many injuries _ as much as you can with not many injuries if— as much as you can with not many injuries. if you get injured you can take time — injuries. if you get injured you can take time out but at a pro level get injured _ take time out but at a pro level get injured more and amateur you can keep— injured more and amateur you can keep going — injured more and amateur you can keep going. there is a lot into it. there _ keep going. there is a lot into it. there are — keep going. there is a lot into it. there are loads of different martial arts in_ there are loads of different martial arts in it _ there are loads of different martial arts in it. overall it is mainly mental— arts in it. overall it is mainly mental toughness that you need. you need the _ mental toughness that you need. you need the discipline, you need mental toughness _ need the discipline, you need mental toughness. you need to be able to carry— toughness. you need to be able to carry on— toughness. you need to be able to carry on going even when you are tired _ carry on going even when you are tired ilyas's_ carry on going even when you are tired. ilyas's prayer that has been supporting — tired. ilyas's prayer that has been supporting him since he started at 14. , supporting him since he started at 14. y , ., . ., , supporting him since he started at 111. very proud. we have been working hard to net 14. very proud. we have been working hard to get this _ 14. very proud. we have been working hard to get this in _ 14. very proud. we have been working hard to get this in the _ 14. very proud. we have been working hard to get this in the sky _ 14. very proud. we have been working hard to get this in the sky is _ 14. very proud. we have been working hard to get this in the sky is the - hard to get this in the sky is the limit. we have got one title, we have another title lined up at the end of march. another one injune as well. end of march. another one in june as

well. �* . , ., , ., , end of march. another one in june as well. ~ . , ., , ., , ., well. after that ilyas and his team have the sight _ well. after that ilyas and his team have the sight set _ well. after that ilyas and his team have the sight set on _ well. after that ilyas and his team have the sight set on the - well. after that ilyas and his team l have the sight set on the american circuit. hello from the bbc sport centre. let's start with some breaking news. as the atp tour in tennis, saudi arabia's investment fund have signed

a multi—year strategic partnership. it mean it will become the official naming partner as the men's rankings, as well as partnering tournaments. saudi arabia has invested heavily in various ports in recent years, amid criticism from some that the investment is being used to sports wash its human rights record. an accusation the country denies. there are four more games in the fa cup fifth round this evening. chelsea face championship high—flyers leeds united at stamford bridge after losing the carabao cup final on sunday. their manager mauricio pochettino is keen to now move on from that defeat. it is another competition, the fa cup, but we need to be ready. we want to have a very good opener in leeds. they are in a very good

moment and i think it is going to