AI startup Relay shuts down; team joins Google Chrome
▼ Summary
– Relay, an AI-powered workflow automation tool launched in 2021, is shutting down, with paying customers losing access on September 14 and free customers on August 15.
– Founder and CEO Jacob Bank is rejoining Google as VP of Product for Google Chrome, leading product and developer relations teams.
– Bank previously worked at Google from 2015, after his scheduling app Timeful was acquired, and led products like Gmail and Google Calendar before founding Relay.
– Relay helped businesses automate repetitive tasks like document drafting and project management, similar to Bank’s earlier startup Timeful.
– Bank’s move reflects Google’s ongoing AI integration, such as Gemini in Chrome and search, which recently surpassed 1 billion users.
Relay, an AI-powered workflow automation startup that launched in 2021 with ambitions to rival Zapier, is officially winding down. A portion of its workforce, including founder and CEO Jacob Bank, is moving over to Google’s Chrome division.
Bank announced the shutdown in a company-wide message on Monday. Paying customers will lose access to the app on September 14, while free users were already cut off as of August 15. The closure was first made public back in July.
Bank, who spent more than six years at Google earlier in his career, is returning to the tech giant as VP of Product for Google Chrome. According to his LinkedIn profile, he will oversee the product and developer relations teams for the browser.
“I’ve spent my whole career doing one thing: building tools that help people get more done with AI, without sacrificing their personal creativity or insights,” Bank wrote in a post on X. “And joining the Chrome team is an ideal opportunity to bring those experiences to many, many more people.”
He also teased upcoming work, saying, “We have some really ambitious plans to help you work with AI in Chrome to get things done, and I’ll have more to share soon.”
Bank first joined Google in 2015, following the acquisition of his scheduling startup Timeful. During his tenure, he led product efforts across Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat before departing to launch Relay.
Like Timeful, Relay focused on boosting productivity through workflow automation. The platform helped businesses handle repetitive tasks such as drafting documents, copyediting, and managing projects. TechCrunch has reached out to both Google and Relay for additional comment.
What exactly Bank and his team plan to build inside Chrome remains an open question, though Bank has described the browser as “a perfect place to collaborate with agents.”
The move aligns with Google’s broader push to weave AI deeper into its products. Gemini has already reshaped the company’s search experience, and it now appears in Chrome as an optional in-browser assistant. The adoption appears to be paying off, as Google recently reported that Gemini has crossed the 1 billion user mark.
(Source: TechCrunch)
