Why Cognition Acquired Poke: Harnessing AI Personality as a Key Competitive Edge

Poke, the AI assistant designed for friendly text-based interactions, is set for a significant transition. The Interaction Company of California, the firm behind Poke, has been acquired by AI coding startup Cognition in a deal reportedly valued in the low nine figures.

This acquisition will integrate Poke’s engaging interaction style into Cognition’s coding assistant, Devin. Poke is expected to leverage Cognition’s advanced models and infrastructure to enhance its speed and reliability.

Poke’s appeal lies in its conversational approach, resembling friendly banter rather than a typical software tool. By incorporating humor and casual language, Poke offers a unique experience that could significantly enhance Devin’s coding functionalities.

Marvin von Hagen, co-founder of The Interaction Company, highlighted in an interview that a personable AI is more appealing than a mechanical counterpart. “Having co-workers with personality is definitely preferable,” he said. “Humor can make the experience enjoyable for users, especially in a tech environment.”

This acquisition reflects a rising trend in the industry; the manner in which AI assistants engage users is increasingly viewed as crucial as the algorithms that drive them. Cognition aims to transform Devin from mere software into a collaborative partner.

Cognition’s co-founder, Scott Wu, expressed excitement about the acquisition on a blog, stating that the Interaction team has built a beloved assistant that is proactive and enjoyable to communicate with. He believes that integrating these qualities with Devin will enhance the user experience.

Poke, which debuted in March 2026, allows users to interact through various messaging platforms, including iMessage, SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp in certain regions. Poke helps with an array of tasks ranging from travel arrangements to health inquiries, finance, scheduling, and education.

Von Hagen noted that the most popular uses of Poke involve managing productivity tasks such as emails, reminders, and to-do lists.

According to Cognition, Poke users sent over 100 million messages in the past three months. However, despite having a sizable user base, operating Poke has proven costly, complicating the journey to profitability, according to von Hagen.

Recently, Poke achieved a milestone by becoming the first AI assistant approved for operation on Apple’s Messages for Business platform, which provides businesses a streamlined method for managing customer communication through Apple’s messaging service.

In the short term, Poke will maintain its current operations through the end of the year and will continue to function on Apple’s platform. However, moving into next year, the team plans to explore opportunities for both Poke and Devin to evolve, incorporating Cognition’s latest software engineering model for certain tasks. The complete merger of the two platforms remains a possibility.

Von Hagen noted that with time, Poke could enhance its reliability in managing coding tasks, while Devin may evolve to adopt characteristics similar to Poke. Currently, Devin can handle only one pull request at a time, which limits its functionality. Enhancing Poke’s orchestration skills could add significant value, including enabling Devin to remember tasks across multiple interactions.

“Having a continuous co-worker would be beneficial,” he remarked.