Key facts
- AI automation startup Relay is shutting down.
- Paying customers will lose access on September 14.
- Founder and CEO Jacob Bank is joining Google's Chrome team.
- Bank will serve as VP of Product for Google Chrome.
- Relay aimed to automate repetitive business tasks using AI.
Relay, an AI-powered workflow automation startup founded in 2021 with the ambition to rival Zapier, is shutting down. The company announced that paying customers will lose access to the service on September 14, while free users have already been cut off as of August 15.
Jacob Bank, Relay's founder and CEO, revealed in a company announcement that he will be returning to Google as the VP of Product for Google Chrome. In this role, Bank will oversee product and developer relations for the browser. He previously worked at Google for over six years, contributing to products like Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat before leaving to establish Relay.
Bank expressed his career-long dedication to building AI tools that enhance productivity without compromising creativity. He sees his new position at Google Chrome as an ideal opportunity to bring these experiences to a broader audience, hinting at ambitious plans for AI integration within the browser. He noted that Chrome is a "perfect place to collaborate with agents."
This move aligns with Google's ongoing strategy of integrating AI, such as Gemini, into its user experience, including Chrome itself, where Gemini functions as an optional in-browser assistant. Google recently reported that Gemini has surpassed 1 billion users.