Relay, the AI workflow automation startup that positioned itself as a Zapier alternative, is officially winding down. Paying customers lose access on September 14, while free users were cut off August 15. The shutdown was first announced in July, but Monday’s update came with a bigger twist: founder and CEO Jacob Bank is heading back to Google.
Bank will serve as VP of Product for Google Chrome, leading product and developer relations teams. It’s a homecoming of sorts — he spent over six years at Google after his previous startup, the scheduling app Timeful, was acquired in 2015. He later worked as product lead for Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat before leaving to launch Relay in 2021.
“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 that Google has “really ambitious plans” for AI in Chrome and promised more details soon.
The move fits a broader pattern at Google, where Gemini has already been baked into search and Chrome as an optional assistant. The company recently reported Gemini crossed 1 billion users. Bank’s return suggests Chrome is about to get a more aggressive AI push — and given his background in personal productivity tools, expect the browser to start behaving less like a passive window and more like a workflow engine. Whether that’s what users actually want from a browser is another question entirely.
