AI Automation Startup Relay Shuts Down, Team Joins Google’s Chrome Division

Relay, a workflow automation platform powered by AI that was launched in 2021 to compete with Zapier, is on the verge of shutting down. Many team members, including the CEO, are moving to Google’s Chrome division.

On Monday, Jacob Bank, the founder and CEO of Relay, announced that paid users will lose their app access on September 14, while free users’ access was already revoked on August 15. The announcement regarding the app’s shutdown was initially made in July.

Bank, who has previously worked at Google for more than six years, shared that he will be rejoining the tech giant as VP of Product for Google Chrome, where he will lead the product and developer relations teams for Chrome, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“During my career, I have concentrated on building tools that enable individuals to maximize their potential with AI while maintaining their own creativity and insights,” Bank stated in a post on X. “Joining the Chrome team offers an incredible chance to share those experiences with a much broader audience.”

“We have some very ambitious plans to integrate AI into Chrome to improve productivity, and I’ll share more updates soon,” he added.

Bank first joined Google in 2015 following the acquisition of his scheduling app, Timeful. While with Google, he served in various roles, including product lead for Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat, before leaving to start Relay.

Similar to Timeful, Relay enhanced user productivity through workflow automation, allowing businesses to streamline repetitive tasks such as drafting documents and editing text, along with various project management functions. TechCrunch has reached out to both Google and Relay for additional information.

How Bank and his teammates intend to further integrate AI into Chrome remains uncertain, although Bank describes Chrome as “an ideal environment for collaborating with agents.”

This event aligns with Google’s ongoing trend of integrating AI into its user interfaces. The addition of Gemini in search has significantly altered Google’s front end—and by extension, the broader internet. Gemini also features in Chrome, acting as an optional in-browser assistant.

Overall, user reception of these updates seems to be favorable, as Google recently announced that Gemini has exceeded 1 billion users.