Parag Agrawal, Ousted Twitter CEO, Enters AI Arena with $30 Million Funding Boost: Reports

San Francisco, Jan 9: it was reported that Parag Agrawal, the former Indian-origin CEO of Twitter, has delved into the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) by securing approximately $30 million for his startup.

Agrawal, who faced dismissal from Twitter, now referred to as X under the ownership of Elon Musk, managed to secure funding for an undisclosed AI venture, as per The Information.

Funding Spearheaded by Khosla Ventures

The funding round was spearheaded by Khosla Ventures, led by Vinod Khosla, an early supporter of OpenAI. The specifics of Agrawal’s startup remain undisclosed, but it is said to focus on developing software for creators of expansive language models, a trend popularized by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Index Ventures and First Round Capital were also reported to be contributors to the funding.

In late 2022, Agrawal, along with former policy lead Vijaya Gadde and other executives, successfully claimed $1.1 million in legal fees from Elon Musk’s X Corp. This followed their termination from Twitter in October 2022, when Musk acquired the micro-blogging platform for $44 billion. Reports suggest that the exit package for these executives totaled around $90-100 million, with Agrawal receiving the largest portion, approximately $40 million, primarily due to the vesting of his shares upon termination.