Weekly news round-up: FCC auctions 5G spectrum & Industrial Light and Magic's expansion plans

FCC launches 5G spectrum auction
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched the first high-band 5G spectrum auction on Wednesday with bidding starting in the 28 GHz band followed by the 24 GHz band. The FCC has made 1.55 gigahertz of spectrum available with more bands being made available into 2019. According to Reuters, the United States was falling behind the lead of South Korea, Australia and the UK.   

Dinnage takes over as Premier League boss
Susanna Dinnage is to depart Discovery Networks after a decade of senior roles She will take over from Richard Scudamore as Chief Executive of the Premier League due to her experience with MTV and Channel 5. Dinnage will lead the negotiations on broadcast deals. “Navigating football’s complex politics” will be her biggest challenge, according to the Telegraph. 

Apple commissions Hollywood studio
A24 has signed a strategic partnership with Apple under a multiyear agreement to produce a slate of films for the technology giant. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Apple has greenlit several TV shows with Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston amongst those involved, however, it is unclear how the new film set to be produced will be distributed.  

VFX firm to open London HQ
Industrial Light and Magic is set to launch a dedicated TV division catering to the visual effects and animation for the streaming and high-end drama market that will be based in London. According to Broadcast Tech, ILM TV will see a new studio space for its VFX focus after the success of working on Black Mirror  and Lucasfilm’s live-action series based on Star Wars.

Google cloud boss: ’AI is stupid’
Google’s Cloud Division Vice President Andrew Moore said “AI is currently very, very stupid,” compared to humans. Moore commented on the limitations of the technology, however, he also urged customers to embrace AI notably image recognition that Google offers, reported Cnet.     

Germany to invest €3b in AI
Seeking to close the digital technology gap with other leading economies, according to Reuters Germany plans to invest more than €3bn by 2025 in its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The investment will include the creation of posts for 100 professors to lecture about the topic with policymakers hoping the investment will drive the startup network to pioneer the use of AI.

EE and Virgin Media fined £13.3m
British telecom regulator Ofcom has fined mobile carriers EE and Virgin Media for overcharging customers exiting their broadband and phone contracts early. The regulator said 400,000 EE customers were over-billed and a total of up to £4.3 million was acquired as a result, while 82,000 Virgin customers were overcharged by just under £2.8 million, BBC reported.