Former Twitter CEO, fired by Musk, announces his AI startup venture
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Former Twitter CEO, fired by Musk, announces his AI startup venture
According to Parallel's official website, its first product is "an API for artificial intelligence that uses web data."
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Jyoti Mann
Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has emerged from stealth mode with his artificial intelligence startup, officially naming the company Parallel Web Systems.
It's unclear when Agrawal updated the company name on LinkedIn, but he has been working on the project since at least early 2024.
According to a January report by The Information, Agrawal had already raised around $30 million for his startup before its name was public. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Index Ventures, and First Round Capital.
The company’s LinkedIn page lists 10 employees in addition to Agrawal and links to a website describing its product. The site says the company is building “an API for AI that uses web data.”
Parallel’s official website does not elaborate much on its mission, stating only that it is developing “systems enabling advanced AI to work with the web.” The site predicts that in the future, AI will act on behalf of humans online. “Access and computation on the web will grow exponentially,” the site states. “Everything—from infrastructure to business models—will need to evolve.”
The website indicates that Parallel is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. However, the address listed in its terms of service is in San Francisco, just a short drive from the former Twitter (now X) office.
Corporate filings show another company, Shapley Inc., is registered at the same address, with Parag Agrawal listed as one of its corporate officers.
It remains unclear when Parag Agrawal registered the domain name for the website.
From Twitter to an AI Startup
Parag Agrawal served as CEO of Twitter from November 2021 to October 2022. He was fired by Elon Musk after Musk acquired the platform.
Kurt Wagner’s book Bidding for the Bird details Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. It recounts how Musk complained to then-CEO Parag Agrawal about an account tracking his private jet’s movements. Musk reportedly asked Agrawal to remove the account, but Agrawal refused.
Wagner noted in an X post from February that Musk began buying shares in Twitter during the same month he raised concerns about the plane-tracking account. By April 2022, Musk had acquired a 9.2% stake, becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder.
The acquisition closed in October 2022. One of Musk’s first actions was to fire Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, top legal and policy executive Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett.
Agrawal and three other former executives sued Musk in March this year, claiming he owes them $128 million in severance pay. (BI)
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
