Cognition Buys Poke: Why AI Personality Is the Next Coding Startup Funding Edge
Cognition, the AI coding startup behind Devin, just bought Poke — the conversational assistant you text like a friend — in a deal valuing the Interaction Company of California in the low nine figures. The acquisition, announced July 24, 2026, signals something subtle but significant: companies are starting to bet that how AI interacts with users matters as much as what it can do.
Poke, launched in March 2026, lets users chat with an AI agent through iMessage, SMS, Telegram, and even WhatsApp in select markets. It's not your typical productivity tool. Poke responds with slang, humor, and a familiarity that feels more like talking to a coworker who actually gets you than software doing its job. In just three months, users exchanged over 100 million messages on the platform. Hundreds of thousands of people trusted Poke with everything from managing emails and reminders to planning travel, handling finances, and even scheduling appointments.
But here's the catch: running Poke at that scale was expensive. Despite its popularity, the Interaction Company struggled to turn a profit. That's where Cognition comes in.
The Deal Behind the Code
On paper, the acquisition looks like a strategic match. Cognition co-founders Scott Wu and Walden Yan were actually angel investors in the company behind Poke before this deal went through. Now, they're bringing Poke's interaction model directly into Devin, their flagship coding assistant.
According to TechCrunch, Marvin von Hagen, co-founder of the Interaction Company, told them: "You probably prefer it if you have co-workers that have personality, rather than if you have co-workers that are just robots." He added, "When you have co-workers that are also software engineers, they can also make a joke. And you'll find it funny and enjoyable."
Cognition wants Devin to feel less like a tool and more like a colleague. That's why they're integrating Poke's personality-driven interaction style. The idea is simple: coding assistants that feel human will be more effective, regardless of how powerful the underlying models are.
"The Interaction team has built an agent that people love: it's proactive, it knows you, and it's fun to talk to. That's exactly how working with Devin should feel, and now we get to build it together," Cognition co-founder Scott Wu wrote in a blog post.
Apple's Seal of Approval
In June, Poke became the first AI agent to be approved to run on Apple's Messages for Business platform, which provides businesses with a standardized experience for handling their customer communications within Apple's Messages app. That's a big deal — Apple doesn't just let anyone into their Messages for Business ecosystem.
This approval validates Poke's approach and gives it credibility that most AI startups can only dream of. It also means Poke has been vetted by one of the most security-conscious companies in tech, which should give users some peace of mind when sharing personal information through the app.
What This Means for Users
If you're a Poke user, nothing changes through the end of 2026. The app stays on Apple's Messages for Business platform, where it became the first AI agent to receive approval in June 2026.
But next year, things get interesting. Poke plans to start experimenting with Cognition's newest software engineering model, SWE-1.7, for certain tasks. Fully combining the two products hasn't been ruled out either.
Von Hagen sees a future where Poke orchestrates multiple Devin sessions, helping Devin remember tasks across different coding projects. "I think in the long term Poke can be more reliable with orchestrating all these coding tasks," he said. "Like right now, Devin can only do one PR — pull request — at a time. I think there's a lot of value in having Poke orchestrate different Devin sessions."
Plus, Poke could help Devin remember tasks across different sessions. "It would be good to have a persistent co-worker," he added. That's the vision: an AI assistant that doesn't just write code, but remembers your preferences, your style, and your workflow.
The Bigger Picture
This acquisition underscores a growing belief in the AI industry: personality is becoming a competitive advantage. As models get better and more commoditized, the way they interact with users will differentiate them.
Cognition's move makes sense. They're betting that the next frontier in AI isn't just about raw capability, but about making that capability feel natural, approachable, and even fun. It's a bet that could pay off — or it could be another example of startups trying to solve problems that don't exist yet.
One thing's clear: the race to make AI feel human is accelerating. And Cognition just made its biggest move yet.
Source
- Cognition, the AI coding startup behind Devin, acquired The Interaction Company of California (Poke) in a deal valuing the startup in the "low nine figures," announced July 24, 2026.
- The deal brings Poke's interaction model and personality to Cognition's coding assistant Devin, while Poke will take advantage of Cognition's models and infrastructure to become faster and more reliable.
- Marvin von Hagen, Interaction Company co-founder, confirmed the deal's price and explained: "You probably prefer it if you have co-workers that have personality, rather than if you have co-workers that are just robots."
- Scott Wu and Walden Yan (Cognition co-founders) were angel investors in the company behind Poke before the deal.
- Poke launched in March 2026, allowing users to engage with its AI agent through iMessage, SMS, Telegram, or WhatsApp (select markets).
- Use cases include travel, health, finance, scheduling, education, emails, reminders, and to-dos.
- Over three months, Poke users exchanged more than 100 million messages on the platform, used by hundreds of thousands of people.
- Despite popularity, Poke had been expensive to run, making it difficult to turn a profit.
- In June 2026, Poke became the first AI agent to be approved to run on Apple's Messages for Business platform.
- Nothing changes for Poke through the end of 2026; the app remains on Apple's platform.
- Next year, Poke will experiment with Cognition's newest software engineering model SWE-1.7 for some tasks.
- Fully combining the two products has not been ruled out.
- Von Hagen's vision: "Poke can be more reliable with orchestrating all these coding tasks... Devin could become more like Poke... It would be good to have a persistent co-worker."
