Cognition Buys Poke to Give Devin More Personality

Cognition launched Devin in 2024 as an autonomous software-engineering agent capable of planning, writing and testing code while collaborating with development teams. Poke, built by The Interaction Company, is a personal AI assistant that operates through Apple Messages, proactively contacting users and following up on tasks. The acquisition underscores a widening strategic shift in AI: as the underlying capabilities of competing agents converge, personality, responsiveness and a more natural user experience are becoming important sources of differentiation.

Cognition announced the acquisition of The Interaction Company on July 23, 2026, without disclosing financial terms. Poke was valued at $300 million after a funding round in April. Users exchanged more than 100 million messages with the assistant during the past three months, while its audience grew to hundreds of thousands. Poke will remain available, with Cognition’s models and infrastructure expected to improve its speed and reliability, while the team’s proactive, personable interaction design will be incorporated into Devin.