Why Google is bringing in outside AI experts for Chrome

The startup Relay, which created software to help people handle routine computer tasks like managing projects or drafting documents, is shutting down. Its employees, including founder Jacob Bank, are joining the team behind Google Chrome. Relay functioned as an automation engine, designed to link different digital tools together so users could automate busywork. As of mid-September, the Relay service will no longer be available to paying customers. Bank, who previously worked at Google, will now lead product teams for Chrome with a focus on integrating artificial intelligence into the browsing experience.

To understand why this matters, think about how you use a web browser today. Usually, it is a passive tool—a window that lets you visit websites, read pages, or open web apps. Automation tools like Relay work differently; they act as a bridge between the different applications you use. By understanding the context of your work, these tools can perform multi-step actions—like taking information from an email and automatically moving it into a project management board—without you needing to click through every single step manually. When Google brings this expertise into Chrome, they are trying to shift the browser from a passive window into an active assistant that can look at what you are doing on a webpage and help you complete tasks, rather than just displaying content for you to interact with manually.

This move shows that the competition for your attention is no longer just about who has the best search engine, but who has the most helpful interface for getting things done. Google is betting that if it can embed these kinds of automation capabilities directly into Chrome—the software that most people use to access the internet—it can save users significant time. It also suggests that the future of AI isn't just about chatting with a bot in a separate window. Instead, the goal is to weave these capabilities into the background of your daily digital life, making the browser a collaborator that understands your workflow.