Poke, the AI assistant you text like a friend, has been acquired by AI coding startup Cognition in a deal valued in the “low nine figures,” the companies announced. The acquisition brings Poke’s distinctive conversational personality to Cognition’s Devin coding assistant, while giving Poke access to Cognition’s advanced models and infrastructure for faster, more reliable performance.
This move signals a key shift in the AI landscape as 2026 progresses: how an AI interacts may matter as much as what it can do. By integrating Poke’s human-like, friendly communication style—complete with slang and humor—Cognition aims to transform Devin from a mere tool into a colleague software engineers actually enjoy working with.
“You probably prefer co-workers that have personality, rather than co-workers that are just robots,” said Interaction Company co-founder Marvin von Hagen in an interview with TechCrunch, confirming the deal’s price. “When you have co-workers that are also software engineers, they can make a joke. And you’ll find it funny and enjoyable.”
From Texting Friends to Coding Partners
Launched in March 2026, Poke quickly gained traction by allowing users to interact with its AI agent via familiar messaging platforms such as iMessage, SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp. From productivity tasks like managing emails and reminders to scheduling, travel, health, and finance, Poke’s versatility made it a daily utility for many.
Von Hagen noted that Poke’s most common use cases leaned heavily on productivity—tasks like handling emails, reminders, and to-dos. But it was the how that set Poke apart: instead of operating like a utility, it chatted like a friend, building rapport and trust through natural conversation.
Cognition’s Vision for Devin
“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. Cognition co-founder Walden Yan and Wu were already angel investors in the company behind Poke, underscoring a long-standing belief in this vision.
The acquisition reflects a broader trend in the 2026 AI market: as models commoditize, user experience and personality become the true differentiators. Companies racing to build productive AI agents now recognize that likability and emotional intelligence can significantly affect adoption and retention.
What’s Next for Poke and Devin Users
Cognition plans to weave Poke’s interaction model into Devin’s coding workflows, aiming to make the assistant feel more like a collaborative teammate than a script executor. Meanwhile, Poke users can expect faster responses and improved reliability as the service taps into Cognition’s infrastructure.
As von Hagen put it, the next frontier isn’t just smarter AI—it’s AI that humans actually want to talk to. With this acquisition, Cognition is betting that personality, not just performance, will define the winners in 2026’s AI assistant race.
via TechCrunch AI