Relay AI startup shuts down, CEO rejoins Google Chrome
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- Relay is shutting down — paying customers lose access September 14, free users were already cut off August 15, after CEO Jacob Bank first announced the closure in July.
- Jacob Bank, Relay's founder and CEO, is rejoining Google as VP of Product for Google Chrome, where he will lead product and developer relations teams.
- Bank previously spent roughly six years at Google as product lead for Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat before leaving to launch Relay in 2021.
- Bank first joined Google in 2015 after his scheduling app Timeful was acquired by the search giant — making the Chrome VP role his second return to the company.
- Bank called Chrome "a perfect place to collaborate with agents" and teased "ambitious plans to help you work with AI in Chrome to get things done," with details promised "soon."
- Google has steadily integrated Gemini into Chrome as an optional in-browser assistant, and recently reported Gemini has crossed 1 billion users.
Why it matters: Relay couldn't sustain itself as a Zapier competitor, but its CEO walked straight into a VP role at Chrome — a textbook acquihire-by-attrition for Google. With Gemini already embedded in Chrome as an in-browser assistant serving 1 billion users, Bank's return signals Google is doubling down on making the browser itself the surface for AI-driven productivity, rather than ceding that ground to standalone automation tools.
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