Cognition Acquires Poke in Low Nine-Figure Deal, AI Interface Design Heats Up

Cognition, the AI lab behind autonomous coding agent Devin, has made a significant move in the world of AI interface design by acquiring The Interaction Company, the startup behind text-based AI assistant Poke. The deal is reportedly valued in the low nine figures and brings Poke's casual, text-a-friend interaction model into Cognition's enterprise-focused orbit.

Poke gained traction after launching in early 2026 and quickly became a popular way for users to interact with an AI assistant through familiar messaging platforms like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Telegram. The startup raised $15 million in seed funding at a valuation of $100 million in September 2025, backed by Spark Capital and General Catalyst.

Cognition, founded by Scott Wu, Steven Hao, and Walden Yan in November 2023, has built its reputation on Devin, an AI agent designed to handle complex software engineering tasks autonomously. The acquisition of Poke marks a significant shift towards enterprise-focused applications, rather than consumer-facing ones.

The deal's lack of blockchain components or decentralized systems raises questions about the role of gatekeeping in the approval process for AI agents like Poke, which was approved by Apple's Messages for Business platform in June 2026.