Reddit shares surged 11% in extended trading on Thursday after the social media company announced a partnership with OpenAI that will allow the ChatGPT maker to train its artificial intelligence models on Reddit content.

As part of the deal, OpenAI will gain access to Reddit’s Data application programming interface, or API, “which provides real-time, structured, and unique content from Reddit,” according to a release.

In exchange, Reddit will begin offering certain AI features to users and moderators, powered by OpenAI, which will also become a Reddit advertising partner. Google announced a similar partnership with Reddit in February, allowing the company to train its AI models, such as Gemini, on Reddit content via access to the platform’s API.

“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up to date human conversations about anything and everything,” CEO Steve Huffman said in Thursday’s release. “Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more or what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is a former board member and major shareholder in Reddit, with a stake valued at about $750 million after Thursday’s pop. OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap spearheaded the deal, which was approved by the company’s board, the release said.

Earlier this week, OpenAI launched a new AI model and desktop version of ChatGPT, along with an updated user interface, the company’s latest effort to expand use of its popular chatbot. The update brings GPT-4 to everyone, including OpenAI’s free users, Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said Monday in a livestreamed event.

Murati said the new model, GPT-4o, is “much faster,” with improved capabilities in text, video and audio. OpenAI said it eventually plans to allow users to video chat with ChatGPT.

For Reddit, the deal provides another spark following a rally on Monday and Tuesday tied to a broader surge in so-called meme stocks such as GameStop. Reddit, which went public in March and reached a record close a few days after its initial public offering, is back to trading near its high of $65.11.

WATCH: OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist leaving company

Figma, a cloud-based design tool company, said Thursday it will allow investors, including current and former employees, to sell their shares in a tender offer that values the company at $12.5 billion.

That’s up 25% from the valuation at which the company fundraised in 2021, but below the $20 billion acquisition offer Adobe made in 2022. Adobe and Figma called off the planned acquisition in December following regulatory scrutiny.

The San Francisco-based startup expects the size of the tender to be between $600 million and $900 million, with support from more than 25 current and new investors. A16z, Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins are participating in the offer.

Figma is used by tens of thousands of employees inside Microsoft, which spends millions per year on its deployment. Google, Oracle and Salesforce also use the company’s software.

In June 2021, during the heyday of mega financings, Figma was valued at $10 billion in a funding round that included participation from Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global. That was before the 2022 market plunge sent many cloud stocks down by more than half and largely halted pre-IPO rounds.

Adobe initially said acquiring Figma would be a natural complement to the company’s portfolio, writing in the original announcement that “the combination of Adobe and Figma will usher in a new era of collaborative creativity.” In December, a regulatory filing said Adobe would pay Figma a $1 billion breakup fee.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

Facebook parent company Meta on Thursday was hit with a major investigation from the European Union into alleged breaches of the bloc’s strict online content law over child safety risks.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said in a statement that it is investigating whether the social media giant’s Facebook and Instagram platforms “may stimulate behavioural addictions in children, as well as create so-called ‘rabbit-hole effects’.”

The Commission added that it is concerned about age verifications on Meta’s platforms, as well as privacy risks linked to the company’s recommendation algorithms.

“We want young people to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online and have spent a decade developing more than 50 tools and policies designed to protect them,” a Meta spokesperson told CNBC by email.

“This is a challenge the whole industry is facing, and we look forward to sharing details of our work with the European Commission.”

The Commission said that its decision to initiate an investigation comes of the back of a preliminary analysis of risk assessment report provided by Meta in September 2023.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for internal market, said in a statement that the regulator is “not convinced [that Meta] has done enough to comply with the DSA obligations to mitigate the risks of negative effects to the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms.”

The EU said it will carry out an in-depth investigation into Meta’s child protection measures “as a matter of priority.” The bloc can continue to gather evidence via requests for information, interviews, or inspections.

The initiation of a DSA probe allows the EU to take further enforcement steps, including interim measures and non-compliance decisions, the Commission said. The Commission added it can also consider commitments made by Meta to remedy its concerns.

Meta and fellow U.S. tech giants have been increasingly finding themselves in the spotlight of EU scrutiny since the introduction of the bloc’s landmark Digital Services Act, a ground-breaking law from the European Commission seeking to tackle harmful content.

Under the EU’s DSA, companies can be fined up to 6% of their global annual revenues for violations. The bloc is yet to issue fines to any tech giants under its new law.

In December 2023, the EU opened infringement proceedings into X, the company previously known as Twitter, over suspected failure to combat content disinformation and manipulation.

The Commission is also investigating Meta over alleged infringements of the DSA related to its handling of election disinformation.

In April, the bloc launched a probe into the firm and said it’s concerned Meta hasn’t done enough to combat disinformation ahead of upcoming European Parliament elections.

The EU is not the only authority taking action against Meta over child safety concerns.

In the U.S., the attorney general of New Mexico is suing the firm over allegations that Facebook and Instagram enabled child sexual abuse, solicitation, and trafficking.

A Meta spokesperson at the time said that the company deploys “sophisticated technology” and takes other preventive steps to root out predators.