Exa 2.1 is a significant update to the Exa search engine, offering improvements in search quality and performance for both fast and agentic search needs. The update enhances all Exa search API endpoints, including Exa Fast, Exa Auto, and Exa Deep, with the Exa MCP quality benefiting from a new deep search tool. Exa Fast now provides highly accurate search results in under 500 milliseconds, outperforming typical search APIs that rely on Google and cannot achieve such low latency. For users prioritizing quality over speed, Exa Deep delivers the highest accuracy through agentic searches. The company has developed its own document index and retrieval algorithms independently, allowing for these advancements. Evaluation methodologies include low-latency and MCP tests, with results benchmarked against expected answers using advanced grading systems. The development reflects years of research and innovation in semantic and lexical databases, with plans for further scaling and the upcoming release of Exa 2.2.