Steve Huffman, the CEO of Reddit, has announced that Microsoft and other AI search engines will now have to pay if they want to continue data scrapping on the platform.

Earlier this year, Reddit reached an agreement with Google and OpenAI, allowing them to gain access to real-time content from Reddit’s data API to train their AI (artificial intelligence) models.

This latest move from Huffman is an attempt to end free data scraping on the popular platform, control how its data is used, and ensure its responsible use.

“Without these agreements, we don’t have any say or knowledge of how our data is displayed and what it’s used for, which has put us in a position now of blocking folks who haven’t been willing to come to terms with how we’d like our data to be used or not used,” Huffman said in an interview with The Verge.

He added, “Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity for refusing to negotiate, saying it has been “a real pain in the ass to block these companies.

“We can no longer be completely open because we have to be very considerate of where our data ends up and what it’s used for. Any crawler that we don’t have a formal agreement with, we’re now blocking.”

In June 2024, Reddit implemented some blocks by updating its Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt), which gives high-level instructions about how the company does and doesn’t allow Reddit to be crawled by third parties on its platform without authorization.

Those who want to access its data in search results must make a licensing deal with Reddit for content of any kind, including its use in web searches. It has already prevented Microsoft’s Bing search engine from accessing any comments and posts on its platform unless there is a formal agreement, news confirmed by Microsoft’s head of search Jordi Ribas on X.

While Reddit and Microsoft attempted to make a deal, their negotiations ended without agreement. A spokesperson from Reddit also said, “Anyone accessing Reddit content must abide by our policies, including those in place to protect redditors. We are selective about who we work with and trust with large-scale access to Reddit content.”

Currently, Google is the only search engine with access to Reddit content, with whom it signed a $60 million deal in February this year.

While Microsoft and Perplexity have yet to comment on The Verge’s report, Anthropic spokesperson Jennifer Martinez responded in a statement: “Reddit has been on our block list for web crawling since mid May, and we haven’t added any URLs from Reddit to our crawler since then. We respect robots.txt, the industry accepted signal for blocking web crawling.”

 Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), is reportedly working on a new “Dislike” button that will allow users to downvote a post or comment and improve the ranking of replies, according to a new report by TechCrunch.

X is working on a YouTube-like dislike button, allowing users to downvote posts and replies

 We recently reported that Apple may release its much-anticipated AI system, “Apple Intelligence,” via a major software update in October, after the initial releases of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 in September this year.

Call recording will be available on iPhone with the release of iOS 18.1

The features powered by Apple Intelligence have been separated from the initial iOS launch, as the Cupertino giant needs more time to test features, fix bugs, and improve stability before releasing them to the general public.

Meanwhile, Apple has released the first developer beta of the iOS 18.1 update with an initial set of Apple Intelligence features. One such function is the new AI-powered call recording feature that allows users to record and transcribe phone conversations.

This functionality allows users to record and transcribe a live call directly from the Phone app, which is particularly useful for those who need to keep track of important meeting discussions, interviews, or personal calls.

After updating to iOS 18.1, users can enable recording on their iPhones when answering or making calls. To do this, they can tap the new “record” button in the screen’s top left corner.

Once the call recording is enabled, all parties on the call will be notified that a recording is in session through an audible “This call will be recorded” message to avoid any confusion or unwanted surprises. Since there is no confirmation dialogue, any person who does not want to be recorded will need to hang up on the call.

As soon as the call concludes, the audio file is automatically transcribed and saved in the Notes app, which happens in real time. Users can open the Notes app to re-listen to recorded phone calls, view a full transcript, and get an AI-generated summary of the call without having to re-listen to lengthy transcripts.

Further, the audio transcriptions will be available in several languages, including English (U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore), Mandarin Chinese (mainland China, Taiwan), Cantonese (mainland China, Hong Kong), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain).

Although the iOS 18.1 developer beta is available for testing on all eligible iPhone models, the Apple Intelligence features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, iPad, and Mac with an M1 chip or newer.

Other Apple Intelligence features in the iOS 18.1 developer beta include a revamped Siri, enhanced Writing tools, email summaries in the Mail app, and natural language search for photos.

 Have you just bought a new smartphone but cannot make calls or use the internet due to an unknown SIM card error? This can happen, and it’s completely normal.

While using a new SIM on your smartphone, you may get an error that reads ‘SIM not provisioned MM2’ error. This error is easy to fix, but what does this mean, and why it appears?

What Does SIM Not Provisioned MM2 Mean?

This is a common error, especially among those who buy a new smartphone or a SIM card.

When you insert a SIM card into your phone, the SIM enables your phone to be identified as yours on the mobile network. Only after the identification, you can make & receive calls, send SMS, and connect to the mobile internet.

However, if you are getting a ‘SIM Not Provisioned’ error message after inserting your new SIM card on your smartphone, it means the SIM can’t share information between your smartphone and your cellular network provider.

Usually, the error only affects users who register a new SIM Card. However, if it occurs on an older SIM card, it could mean that you will have to get your SIM replaced. Some other reasons may include:

• You have just purchased a new SIM card.
• While transferring your contacts into the new SIM.
• Your telecom operator’s servers are unavailable.
• Your new SIM card still needs to be fully activated.
• The SIM Card needs to be properly connected.

How do I fix the ‘SIM Not Provisioned MM2’ error message?

The error message will go away once the new SIM is activated, but if it occurs on an older and pre-activated SIM, you need to follow these methods.

1. Restart Your Smartphone

Even if your phone has installed all necessary APN settings for your new SIM card, you still need to restart to activate those settings.

After inserting a new SIM card, make sure to install all settings that were sent to your phone via flash messages. Once done, restart your smartphone.

After the restart, try to call or connect to the internet; you won’t see the ‘SIM Not Provisioned MM2’ error anymore.

2. Toggle On/Off Airplane Mode

Enabling Airplane mode turns off all cellular network connections. This means you won’t be able to use the internet, make and receive calls, send and receive SMS, etc.

You can try turning the Airplane mode on and off to resolve the ‘SIM Not Provisioned MM2’ error message.

Doing so will re-establish a fresh connection and rule out any network error that might trigger the SIM not Provisioned error.

To enable Airplane mode, you need to pull down the Notification shutter and tap on the ‘Airplane mode’ or ‘Flight Mode’. Once enabled, wait for a few seconds and disable Airplane Mode.

3. Update the Carrier Services

If you use an Android smartphone, your phone has the Carrier Services app that connects your phone and mobile networks.

An outdated Carrier services app sometimes causes the error. Also, if you get the SIM Not Provisioned error without swapping your SIM, chances are there’s a problem with the Carrier Services. Hence, you need to update the Google App.

1. Open the Google Play Store and tap on your profile picture.

2. From the list of options that appears, select Manage apps and devices

3. Now select the Updates Available section.

4. Now, find the Carrier Services app and install the update.

4. Make sure your SIM Card is Activated

In many countries, SIM cards need less than 24 hours to activate. However, in some regions, it may take a few days.

So, if you have just purchased a new SIM card and inserted it into your phone, you need to wait until your SIM gets fully activated.

Until and unless the telecom operator activates your SIM card, you will get a ‘SIM Not Provisioned MM2’ error while making calls or sending SMS. You can contact your Carrier or Network Provider from any other number to enquire about the activation status.

5. Make sure the SIM card is properly inserted

If your SIM card is activated and ready to make calls, you still get the error message; you need to check if the SIM is correctly seated on your Phone.

You must check for physical damage even if your SIM card is correctly seated. The problem may even reside in your SIM card slot.

You can switch off your smartphone and eject the SIM card. After ejecting it, insert it again and turn on your smartphone. After the restart, wait for the cellular network to appear and then try to make calls.

6. Insert the SIM Card in a different slot

If you have a dual SIM smartphone, you can insert your new SIM card in a different slot. If the other slot is already occupied, then swap the SIM cards.

Trying another slot will help you rule out problems related to the SIM card slot on your smartphone. If the SIM Card slot has the problem, you will get the same or any other network error, even on your active SIM card.

7. Contact or Reach out to your Network Provider

If you have tried your best to fix the problem, but nothing has worked, it’s time to contact or reach your Network Provider.

You can take your SIM card to your network provider or contact them with any other number and explain the problem. Tell them the things you have tried to resolve the ‘SIM Not Provisioned MM2’ error.

They will help you to resolve the issue. If it’s a network-related problem, it will be fixed within a few days.

8. Get a new SIM Card

If your Network provider fails to resolve the issue or the error message frequently appears on your phone, it’s time to get a new SIM Card.

You can get a new SIM Card for your old phone number through MNP. However, this is the least recommended method, and you should request a new SIM card if the problem still needs to be fixed, even after raising a complaint with your network provider.

Also Read: How To Fix ‘SIM not provisioned MM2’ Error Message

We have shared all possible ways to resolve the SIM Not Provisioned error message. If you need more help resolving the ‘SIM Not Provisioned MM2’ error, let us know in the comments below.

 The one thing you can do to make your WhatsApp group more engaging is to create polls. WhatsApp now officially supports creating polls within the app to get quick answers to your questions.

Actually, the Poll feature has been there for a while now, but it went unnoticed. It’s an underrated feature that has the potential to make your regular WhatsApp Group chat more exciting.

How to Create a WhatsApp Poll

The steps to create a poll in the WhatsApp app is pretty much the same for Android & iOS, with only a few differences in the UI level. So, we have used the WhatsApp app for Android to demonstrate the steps to create polls.

1. To get started, open the WhatsApp app on your Android or iPhone.

2. When the app opens, open the group where you want to create a poll.