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India.com
4 hours ago
- Business
- India.com
Rs 2580000000: Sacked by Elon Musk, this Indian-origin founder makes a bold comeback, launches his own company; name is.., he is…
Indian-origin Parag Agrawal, former CEO of Twitter (now called X), is once again in the news headlines. In 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X. Out of significant changes, including the rebranding of the social media platform, the new owner, Musk, removed the then-CEO Parag Agrawal, along with several top executives. Who is this Indian-origin founder making a comeback after being sacked by Elon Musk? Once again, Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has made a new comeback with his AI startup: Parallel Web Systems. Primarily, the AI startup is a cloud platform that is specifically designed for AI systems to assist them in performing online research. What is the name of the company he has launched? 'The open web is a miracle. Anyone can publish, learn, and collaborate. It's the closest thing to humanity's living memory. This open ecosystem fueled today's AI breakthroughs,' reads the official website of Parallel Web Systems. Parag Agrawal is a prominent Indian-American software engineer who has had a significant impact in the tech industry. On November 29, 2021, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced Parag as the company's next CEO when he stepped down. However, following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, he was released from his position. Hailing from Ajmer, Rajasthan, Parag Agrawal completed his Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Furthermore, he completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Computer Science from Stanford University. How much funding has the new company raised so far? In 2023, Agrawal established Parallel and quietly assembled a 25-member team in Palo Alto. The company secured funding from notable investors Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures. In two years, the company has pulled down $30 million (around Rs 258 crore). It is to be noted that we are taking the rate of 1 USD = Rs 86, $30 million equals Rs 2,580,000,000 (Rs 258 crore). The company states that the Parnelle system executes millions of research tasks daily, and the founding clients were some of the fastest-growing AI companies. According to Parallel's blog post, the company is already processing millions of research tasks daily, and some of its clients are the fastest growing AI companies in the world. In simple terms, the ex-twitter CEO's new AI platform allows, and assists AI applications to access real-time public internet data and apply it directly in its responses. It is like giving AI access to a browser that grabs the right information, reviews, verifies and organises it. According to the company's blog post, their AI systems are able to provide as many as eight different research engines. The fastest system allows a response time as low as a minute. The company's most advanced Ultra8x can look for highly details information or data for thirty minutes. The company offers that its Ultra8x had over 10 percent better performance than OpenAI's GPT-5 in BrowseComp and DeepResearch Bench.
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Ex-Twitter chief Parag Agrawal launches new $30M startup Parallel, betting on AI smarter than ChatGPT-5
Synopsis Parag Agrawal, the former CEO of Twitter, has returned with a new venture called Parallel Web Systems. Founded in 2023, the Palo Alto startup builds infrastructure for AI agents to conduct web research with greater accuracy and speed. Already backed by $30 million from firms including Khosla Ventures and Index Ventures, the platform claims to outperform OpenAI's GPT-5 in benchmark tests. Agrawal says he hopes Parallel, not Twitter, will define his career as he steps back into the Silicon Valley spotlight. Agencies Ex-Twitter chief Parag Agrawal launches Parallel, betting on AI smarter than GPT-5 Parag Agrawal, once at the helm of Twitter, is now leading Parallel Web Systems, an artificial intelligence startup that focuses on helping AI agents complete tasks on behalf of humans. The idea is to allow machines to gather, verify, and organise information directly from the move comes less than three years after his abrupt dismissal by Elon Musk, who sacked him and Twitter's leadership team immediately after taking over the company. Friends and colleagues urged Agrawal to take a break. He chose otherwise. 'I'm not a person that can enjoy the beach in that moment,' he told Bloomberg. Instead, he spent his days in Palo Alto coffee shops reading research papers, sketching ideas, and writing code on his said he had plenty of offers but most of them were unappealing. 'Clean up shit,' is how he described those roles. Having spent years building machine learning systems at Twitter, he was clear his next step would be in artificial intelligence. His timing was notable. Just a month after leaving Twitter, OpenAI released ChatGPT, which opened the floodgates for new AI ventures. By 2023, Agrawal had founded Parallel Web Systems and quietly assembled a 25-member team in Palo Alto. The company has already raised $30 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures. One of the early backers is Vinod Khosla, the billionaire venture capitalist known for his bets on emerging Parallel's technology is being used by early adopters, which Agrawal describes as 'some of the fastest-growing AI companies.' The system is reportedly processing millions of research tasks each platform allows AI applications to search the public web in real time, verify the accuracy of what they find, and package results into clear responses. According to the company's official blog, the system includes eight 'research engines' designed for different fastest engine can deliver results in under a minute, while the most advanced, called Ultra8x, can spend half an hour digging for highly detailed answers. Parallel says Ultra8x has outperformed OpenAI's GPT-5 by more than 10 per cent in benchmarks such as BrowseComp and DeepResearch Bench.'It is the only AI system to outperform both humans and leading AI models like GPT-5 on the most rigorous benchmarks for deep web research,' the company says its services can support a range of industries. Coding assistants can pull snippets directly from GitHub. Retailers can track rivals' product catalogues. Market analysts can have consumer reviews organised into can access these tools through three different APIs, including a low-latency version built for career has already seen sharp turns. A former International Physics Olympiad gold medallist, he earned a PhD in computer science from Stanford before joining Twitter in 2011. Starting out on the advertising team, he climbed the ranks to become Chief Technology Officer under Jack Dorsey. He worked on core products like Twitter's ad technology and its algorithmic timeline, before being named CEO in 2022, he was still leading Twitter while locked in a legal battle with Musk over the $44 billion takeover bid. When Musk finally completed the purchase, his first move was to dismiss briefly considered an AI healthcare project, but kept coming back to what he saw as a pressing challenge: building AI agents that could reliably search and interpret the web.'I don't think Twitter defines me. If I do a good job, I'm hoping this company will define me,' he said of his new believes the future of AI lies in personal agents acting on behalf of users. 'You'll probably deploy 50 agents on your behalf to be on the internet,' he predicted. 'And that's going to happen soon, like next year,' he told Parallel Web Systems, he is betting on speed and accuracy to give him an edge in a competitive market, and perhaps a new definition of his career.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Ex-Twitter chief Parag Agrawal launches new $30M startup Parallel, betting on AI smarter than ChatGPT-5
Parag Agrawal , once at the helm of Twitter , is now leading Parallel Web Systems , an artificial intelligence startup that focuses on helping AI agents complete tasks on behalf of humans. The idea is to allow machines to gather, verify, and organise information directly from the web. Independence Day 2025 Modi signals new push for tech independence with local chips Before Trump, British used tariffs to kill Indian textile Bank of Azad Hind: When Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave India its own currency The move comes less than three years after his abrupt dismissal by Elon Musk, who sacked him and Twitter's leadership team immediately after taking over the company. Friends and colleagues urged Agrawal to take a break. He chose otherwise. 'I'm not a person that can enjoy the beach in that moment,' he told Bloomberg. Instead, he spent his days in Palo Alto coffee shops reading research papers, sketching ideas, and writing code on his laptop. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like New River Cruises Coming to Bangladesh: (Take A Look at The Prices) River Cruises Read More Undo From coffee shop to company Agrawal said he had plenty of offers but most of them were unappealing. 'Clean up shit,' is how he described those roles. Having spent years building machine learning systems at Twitter, he was clear his next step would be in artificial intelligence. His timing was notable. Just a month after leaving Twitter, OpenAI released ChatGPT , which opened the floodgates for new AI ventures. By 2023, Agrawal had founded Parallel Web Systems and quietly assembled a 25-member team in Palo Alto. Live Events Backing from Silicon Valley investors The company has already raised $30 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures. One of the early backers is Vinod Khosla, the billionaire venture capitalist known for his bets on emerging technologies. Today, Parallel's technology is being used by early adopters, which Agrawal describes as 'some of the fastest-growing AI companies.' The system is reportedly processing millions of research tasks each day. How Parallel works Parallel's platform allows AI applications to search the public web in real time, verify the accuracy of what they find, and package results into clear responses. According to the company's official blog, the system includes eight 'research engines' designed for different needs. The fastest engine can deliver results in under a minute, while the most advanced, called Ultra8x, can spend half an hour digging for highly detailed answers. Parallel says Ultra8x has outperformed OpenAI's GPT-5 by more than 10 per cent in benchmarks such as BrowseComp and DeepResearch Bench. 'It is the only AI system to outperform both humans and leading AI models like GPT-5 on the most rigorous benchmarks for deep web research,' the company said. Parallel says its services can support a range of industries. Coding assistants can pull snippets directly from GitHub. Retailers can track rivals' product catalogues. Market analysts can have consumer reviews organised into spreadsheets. Developers can access these tools through three different APIs, including a low-latency version built for chatbots. From courtroom battles to AI labs Agrawal's career has already seen sharp turns. A former International Physics Olympiad gold medallist, he earned a PhD in computer science from Stanford before joining Twitter in 2011. Starting out on the advertising team, he climbed the ranks to become Chief Technology Officer under Jack Dorsey. He worked on core products like Twitter's ad technology and its algorithmic timeline, before being named CEO in 2021. In 2022, he was still leading Twitter while locked in a legal battle with Musk over the $44 billion takeover bid. When Musk finally completed the purchase, his first move was to dismiss Agrawal. Agrawal briefly considered an AI healthcare project, but kept coming back to what he saw as a pressing challenge: building AI agents that could reliably search and interpret the web. 'I don't think Twitter defines me. If I do a good job, I'm hoping this company will define me,' he said of his new role. Agrawal believes the future of AI lies in personal agents acting on behalf of users. 'You'll probably deploy 50 agents on your behalf to be on the internet,' he predicted. 'And that's going to happen soon, like next year,' he told Bloomberg. With Parallel Web Systems, he is betting on speed and accuracy to give him an edge in a competitive market, and perhaps a new definition of his career.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Returns with $30M AI Startup 'Parallel' to Challenge GPT-5 in Web Research
Almost three years after being abruptly ousted from Twitter by Elon Musk, Parag Agrawal is making a high-profile comeback in Silicon Valley. This time, the former Twitter CEO is leading his own artificial intelligence venture — and it's already drawing attention for outperforming some of the biggest names in the field. Agrawal's new company, Parallel Web Systems Inc., founded in 2023, operates out of Palo Alto with a 25-person team. Backed by major investors such as Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures, Parallel has raised $30 million in funding. According to the company's blog post, its platform is already processing millions of research tasks daily for early adopters, including 'some of the fastest-growing AI companies,' as Agrawal describes them. At its core, Parallel offers agentic AI services that allow AI systems to pull real-time data directly from the public web. The platform doesn't just retrieve information — it verifies, organizes, and even grades the confidence level of its responses. In essence, it gives AI applications a built-in browser with advanced intelligence, enabling more accurate and reliable results. Parallel's technology features eight distinct 'research engines' tailored for different needs. The fastest engine delivers results in under a minute, while its most advanced, Ultra8x, can spend up to 30 minutes digging into highly detailed queries. The company claims Ultra8x has surpassed OpenAI's GPT-5 in independent benchmarks like BrowseComp and DeepResearch Bench by over 10%, making it 'the only AI system to outperform both humans and leading AI models like GPT-5 on the most rigorous benchmarks for deep web research.' The potential applications are wide-ranging. AI coding assistants can use Parallel to pull live snippets from GitHub, retailers can track competitors' product catalogs in real time, and market analysts can have customer reviews compiled into spreadsheets. Developers have access to three APIs, including a low-latency option optimized for chatbots. Agrawal's return to the tech scene comes after a turbulent 2022, when Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and immediately dismissed most of its top executives, including him. That move followed months of legal disputes over the takeover. Rather than taking a break, Agrawal dived back into research and development. He explored ideas ranging from AI healthcare to data-driven automation, but ultimately zeroed in on what he saw as a critical gap in the AI landscape — giving AI agents the ability to reliably locate and interpret information from the internet. Now, Parallel positions him back in the AI race, and perhaps indirectly, in competition with Musk. Agrawal sees the future of AI as one where multiple autonomous agents will work online simultaneously for individual users. 'You'll probably deploy 50 agents on your behalf to be on the internet,' he predicts. 'And that's going to happen soon, like next year,' he told Bloomberg. With speed, accuracy, and reliability as its edge, Parallel could become a defining player in the next phase of AI innovation.
India Today
3 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Fired by Elon Musk, ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is back in the game with new $30M AI company
Ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is back in headlines from Silicon Valley. Almost three years after being unceremoniously fired by Elon Musk on the very day he took over Twitter, the former CEO is back in the game and this time at the helm of his own artificial intelligence company. Agrawal has introduced his new startup, Parallel Web Systems Inc, a cloud platform designed for AI systems to help them conduct online founded Parallel in 2023 and has been quietly building a 25-person team in Palo Alto. Backed by big-name investors including Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures, the two-year-old company has already raised $30 million. According to the official blog post shared by the company, Parallel's technology is already handling millions of research tasks every day for early adopters, among them, what Agrawal describes as 'some of the fastest-growing AI companies.'So what will Parallel do?In simple terms, Agrawal's new AI platform lets AI applications tap into real-time data from the public web and put together that information directly into their responses. Think of it as giving AI access to a browser that not only fetches the right information, but also verifies it, organises it, and even grades its own confidence in the answer. According to the blog post, the system offers eight different 'research engines' with varying speeds and depth. The fastest can respond in under a minute, while the most advanced — Ultra8x — can spend up to 30 minutes digging for highly detailed information. Parallel says Ultra8x outperformed OpenAI's GPT-5 in independent benchmarks such as BrowseComp and DeepResearch Bench by more than 10 per cent. '(It is) the only AI system to outperform both humans and leading AI models like GPT-5 on the most rigorous benchmarks for deep web research,' notes the company. As for use cases, the company says its services are available for AI coding assistants to pull snippets directly from GitHub, help a retailers track a competitor's product catalogue, or enable a market analyst to have reviews neatly compiled into a spreadsheet. Developers can also integrate these capabilities using one of Parallel's three APIs, including a low-latency option tailored for courtroom drama to coding againInterestingly, Agrawal's return has been quiet yet impactful, following all the chaos of late 2022. That October, he was still leading Twitter after months of battling Musk in court. The fight was about Musk's on-again, off-again $44 billion takeover bid. When Musk finally closed the deal, his first move was to sack most of Twitter's leadership team, including after all the drama, instead of taking a break, Agrawal apparently jumped straight into sketching out ideas in coffee shops, reading research papers, and writing code. Early on, he reportedly considered an AI healthcare venture (via Bloomberg), but kept circling back to what Parag says is in urgent need: Giving AI agents the ability to reliably find and interpret information from the now, it seems he's indirectly back in competition with Musk, this time in the AI race, betting that with Parallel, accuracy and speed will be his winning edge. 'You'll probably deploy 50 agents on your behalf to be on the internet,' he predicts. 'And that's going to happen soon, like next year,' Agarwal told Bloomberg. - Ends
