{"slug": "relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome", "title": "Relay shuts up shop as CEO heads to AI-ify Chrome", "summary": "Google has re-hired Jacob Bank, founder and CEO of agentic AI app Relay, as VP of Product for Google Chrome, along with several team members, to enhance Chrome's AI features. Relay, which launched in July 2021 and raised $8.1 million across two funding rounds, will shut down for free users on 15 August and cease operations on 14 September 2026.", "body_md": "[Chrome](/tag/chrome/)\n\nGoogle has re-poached the founder and CEO of agentic AI app Relay, and some of his team, to help it add more AI features to Google Chrome.\n\nCEO Jacob Bank revealed this week that he was taking the position of VP of Product for Google Chrome after five years away from Google building Relay, an AI workflow and agent-builder app, and bringing several colleagues with him.\n\nPosting [ on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7495092819376656384/?ref=thestack.technology), he said: “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. And joining the Chrome team is an ideal opportunity to bring those experiences to many, many more.”\n\nRelay launched in July 2021, shortly after Bank left a position as Director of Product Management for Google’s consumer shopping services, and had raised $8.1 million across two funding rounds by the time it first [ announced its closure](https://relay.app/?ref=thestack.technology) in July 2026.\n\nThe app, used to automate common business processes across existing collaboration platforms, closed to free users on 15 August and will cease working completely on 14 September 2026.\n\n**Google Chrome’s AI push**\n\n## Get the full story: Subscribe for free\n\nJoin peers managing over $100 billion in annual IT spend and subscribe to unlock full access to The Stack’s analysis and events.\n\n[Subscribe now](https://www.thestack.technology/membership/)\n\nAlready a member? [Sign in](https://www.thestack.technology/signin/)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome", "canonical_source": "https://www.thestack.technology/relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome/", "published_at": "2026-08-18 10:37:25+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-18 10:41:53.673366+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-products", "ai-startups"], "entities": ["Google", "Jacob Bank", "Relay", "Google Chrome"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/relay-shuts-up-shop-as-ceo-heads-to-ai-ify-chrome.jsonld"}}