Relay shuts down and its CEO heads to Google Chrome
The AI workflow startup is closing its doors in September. Its founder is joining Google as VP of Product for Chrome, where he says he has "ambitious plans" for AI.
Key points
- Relay, an AI workflow automation startup founded in 2021, will cut off paying customers on 14 September 2026.
- Free users lost access on 15 August 2026, following a closure announcement made in July.
- Jacob Bank, Relay's CEO and founder, is joining Google as VP of Product for Chrome.
- Gemini, Google's AI assistant now built into Chrome as an optional helper, recently passed 1 billion users across Google's products.
- Bank says Chrome is "a perfect place to collaborate with agents," hinting at deeper AI features to come.
Relay is closing. The AI-powered workflow tool launched in 2021 to help businesses automate repetitive tasks like document drafting and project management. Paying customers lose access on 14 September 2026; free users lost theirs on 15 August. The closure was first signalled in July.
Where is Bank going?
Bank is rejoining Google as VP of Product for Chrome, leading the browser's product and developer relations teams. He'll also bring some of Relay's staff with him to the Chrome team.
This is not his first time at the company. Bank joined Google in 2015 when it acquired Timeful, his earlier scheduling startup. He worked as product lead for Gmail and Google Calendar before leaving to build Relay.
"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 on X. "And joining the Chrome team is an ideal opportunity to bring those experiences to many, many more people."
He added: "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."
What does this mean for Chrome users?
Gemini already sits inside Chrome as an optional in-browser assistant, and it recently crossed 1 billion users across Google's products. That's the platform Bank is inheriting. Readers who'd rather not have Gemini in their Google apps may want to check how to remove it from Docs and Gmail, which we covered on 8 August.
Bank describes Chrome as "a perfect place to collaborate with agents." An AI agent is software that carries out multi-step tasks on your behalf, rather than answering a single question. That framing points toward features well beyond a chat window in the corner of your screen. What form those features take, and when, Bank hasn't said.
Should you worry about Relay's closure?
If you pay for Relay, 14 September is your deadline to export data and migrate your automated workflows. Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat) both handle the same kind of task automation. Don't wait: test your replacement workflows before the old ones go dark.
The real question here is what Bank does to Chrome's AI layer, and how fast. His whole career has run toward making repetitive work faster. He now has a browser with billions of users to work with.
