Key facts
- Cognition acquired The Interaction Company, maker of AI assistant Poke, for a deal valued in the low nine figures.
- The acquisition aims to integrate Poke's conversational personality into Cognition's AI coding assistant, Devin.
- Poke allows users to interact via messaging platforms like iMessage, SMS, and Telegram.
- Poke users exchanged over 100 million messages in the three months preceding the acquisition.
- Poke was approved for Apple's Messages for Business platform in June.
Cognition, an AI coding startup, has acquired The Interaction Company, the creator of the AI assistant Poke, in a deal valued in the low nine figures. The acquisition is driven by the desire to integrate Poke's distinctive conversational personality and interaction model into Cognition's AI coding assistant, Devin.
Poke is designed to interact with users in a friendly, familiar manner, incorporating slang and humor, which Cognition believes will make Devin feel less like a tool and more like a human colleague. Marvin von Hagen, co-founder of The Interaction Company, explained that having AI "co-workers" with personality is preferable to robotic interactions, citing the enjoyment derived from shared humor.
Launched in March 2026, Poke allows users to engage with its AI agent across various messaging platforms for tasks ranging from travel and finance to managing emails and to-do lists. In the three months prior to the acquisition, Poke users exchanged over 100 million messages. Despite its popularity, Poke has been costly to operate, making profitability a challenge.
Cognition co-founder Scott Wu noted that the Interaction team built an agent that is proactive, personalized, and enjoyable to use, aligning with their vision for Devin. Wu and fellow co-founder Walden Yan had previously been angel investors in The Interaction Company.
While Poke will initially remain unchanged on platforms like Apple's Messages for Business, where it gained approval in June, future plans include experimenting with integrating Poke into Cognition's SWE-1.7 model. The companies have not ruled out a full product combination, envisioning Poke orchestrating multiple Devin sessions and Devin adopting more of Poke's persistent, conversational qualities.