AI-powered workflow automation startup Relay is shutting down, with founder and chief executive officer Jacob Bank and some members of its team moving to Google’s Chrome division.

Relay, which launched in 2021 with ambitions of competing with workflow automation platform Zapier, announced that access for paying customers will end on September 14, 2026. Free users lost access on August 15.

The company had initially announced its closure in July.

Bank, who previously spent more than six years at Google, is returning to the technology company as Vice President of Product for Google Chrome. According to his LinkedIn profile, he will oversee Chrome’s product and developer relations teams.

Bank said his career has focused on developing tools that help people accomplish more with artificial intelligence while retaining their creativity and insights.

He said his return to Google would provide an opportunity to bring those experiences to a much larger user base.

“We have some really ambitious plans to help you work with AI in Chrome to get things done, and I’ll have more to share soon,” Bank said.

Bank first joined Google in 2015 after the company acquired his previous startup, Timeful, a scheduling application.

During his time at Google, he held product leadership roles covering Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Chat before leaving the company to establish Relay.

Relay was designed to help businesses automate repetitive workflows, including document drafting, copyediting and project management tasks.

The move back to Google raises questions about how Bank and other former Relay employees could contribute to the company’s plans for artificial intelligence in Chrome.

Bank has described Chrome as a suitable platform for people to collaborate with AI agents.

Google has been steadily expanding AI capabilities across its products, including integrating Gemini into Search and Chrome.

Gemini is available in Chrome as an optional in-browser assistant, while its integration into Google Search has significantly changed how users interact with the search engine.

Google recently reported that Gemini had surpassed one billion users, highlighting the scale of the company’s ongoing push to integrate AI across its products.