AI Automation Startup Relay Shuts Down, Staff Join Google's Chrome Team

The would-be 'new Zapier' is closing its doors, and its founder is heading to Google to lead product for Chrome's AI push

Published: 2026-08-23 Category: Quick Take Sources: TechCrunch — AI automation startup Relay shuts down, staff joins Google's Chrome team

What Happened

Relay, an AI-powered workflow automation tool launched in 2021 with the ambition of becoming the "new Zapier," is shutting down. Founder and CEO Jacob Bank announced the app will close access for paying customers on September 14 (free customers lost access August 15), and that he's rejoining Google — where he spent six-plus years earlier in his career — as VP of Product for Google Chrome, leading its product and developer relations teams.

Why It Matters

Relay's collapse is a cautionary data point for the crowded AI-automation space, which is packed with startups all chasing the same "connect your tools and automate your busywork" opportunity. Bank's own framing is upbeat: "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," he wrote on X, adding that Chrome is "a perfect place to collaborate with agents."

The bigger signal is what this says about the AI battlefield consolidating into the big platforms. Bank, who previously led products across Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Chat, is going to steer agentic AI inside the browser. It follows Google's steady integration of Gemini across its stack — into Search, into Chrome as an optional in-browser assistant — and Google recently reported Gemini had crested 1 billion users. When the "startup trying to become the new Zapier" can't make it, but its founder walks into a VP seat at the biggest distribution platform on earth, it's a reminder that in AI's platform era, distribution is the moat and standalone automation tools have to fight hard for survival.

Source: TechCrunch (Lucas Ropek, August 17, 2026)