Turning Tables! Elon Musk Fired Him. Now He’s Building a ₹260 Crore AI Startup

When Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022, the first wave of headlines wasn’t just about the $44 billion deal. It was also about the sweeping exits of top executives — including Parag Agrawal, the Indian-origin technologist who had only recently stepped into the role of Twitter’s CEO. For many, it seemed like a sudden halt to a remarkable career trajectory. After all, Agrawal had risen from being an engineer at Twitter to leading the company in just over a decade.

But in Silicon Valley, setbacks often turn into fresh beginnings. And for Agrawal, the quiet exit from Twitter has now set the stage for a striking re-entry. Two years later, he has returned with a bold bet on artificial intelligence — one that carries a price tag of nearly ₹260 crore.

Enter Parallel Web Systems: Agrawal’s Big AI Leap

In 2023, Agrawal co-founded Parallel Web Systems Inc., a Palo Alto-based startup that is building infrastructure tools for the fast-expanding AI industry. Backed by heavyweight investors such as Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures, the company has already secured $30 million in funding.

Parallel’s vision is clear yet ambitious: to power the next generation of AI systems by helping them research, retrieve, and analyse the web at scale. In other words, it wants to provide AI companies with something they all desperately need — real-time, high-quality access to web data.

As artificial intelligence moves beyond static training datasets, the demand for fresh, reliable, and dynamic web information has exploded. From chatbots and virtual assistants to enterprise AI products, the ability to scan and interpret the internet in real time has become a defining challenge. Parallel is positioning itself right at the heart of this problem.

The Idea of “Web Intelligence”

Agrawal describes his startup’s mission as building the backbone of “web intelligence.” In a recent LinkedIn post, he explained how Parallel enables companies to plug into its tools and supercharge their AI models with constantly updated online data.

The company claims to already be powering millions of research tasks daily for both startups and large enterprises. One unnamed public company, Agrawal revealed, has used Parallel’s system to automate workflows that were previously handled manually by employees — and in some cases, the results have even outperformed human accuracy.

The tools are designed to integrate directly into AI platforms and agents, enabling them not just to retrieve information but also to organise and analyse it at a massive scale. For businesses and AI developers, this could mean a step-change in how intelligent systems function in real-world applications.

From Social Media CEO to AI Infrastructure Founder

Agrawal’s journey makes Parallel even more compelling. After his dismissal from Twitter (now rebranded as X), he largely retreated from public attention. Unlike some former tech executives who immediately pivot to new roles, Agrawal took his time. His return with Parallel, therefore, is being seen not just as a business move, but as a personal comeback.

It also represents a dramatic shift in focus. At Twitter, Agrawal was steering a global social media platform through turbulent waters. With Parallel, he is instead working on something foundational: the invisible layer of infrastructure that could power how AI products interact with the internet. In many ways, it’s a move from running the spotlight to building the stage on which the spotlight shines.

The Road Ahead — And The Competition

Of course, Silicon Valley is no stranger to competition. Parallel is entering a space where rivals already offer retrieval APIs and where many large AI companies are building similar capabilities in-house. For a new startup, carving out space in such a competitive landscape will be far from easy.

Yet, Parallel has some strong cards on the table — a $30 million war chest, early traction with enterprises, and the credibility of Agrawal’s technical reputation. Investors are betting that as AI systems demand increasingly complex and dynamic access to the web, a specialised company like Parallel could find itself in a sweet spot.

For the Indian-origin founder, Parallel is more than just another Silicon Valley startup. It’s a redemption arc — proof that even after one of the most high-profile corporate oustings in recent tech history, a technologist can return stronger, armed with new ideas and sharper focus.

As the global race to dominate AI heats up in 2025, Agrawal’s reappearance with Parallel Web Systems has not gone unnoticed. If his new venture succeeds, it won’t just mark a personal victory. It could also place him at the helm of a company building the very backbone of tomorrow’s AI economy.