Relay is shutting down its AI workflow automation app, cutting off free users on August 15 and paying customers on September 14, and founder Jacob Bank is rejoining Google as VP of product for Chrome. Relay came out of beta in 2023 as a Zapier rival, wrapping human approval steps around automated ones, and raised $8.1M in rounds led by Khosla Ventures and a16z. It announced the closure in July without saying why. Some of the staff are moving to Chrome with Bank, who will run its product and developer relations teams and who spent six years at Google after it bought his scheduling app Timeful in 2015, leading product for Gmail, Calendar, and Chat before leaving in 2021. He called Chrome a good place to collaborate with agents but hasn’t said what he’s building.
