AI coding firm Cognition has acquired The Interaction Company, the developer of the AI assistant Poke, in a deal valued at the low nine figures. The acquisition, announced on July 23, 2026, seeks to integrate Poke's conversational interface and interaction patterns into Cognition's autonomous software engineering agent, Devin. This move signals a shift toward prioritizing how AI assistants communicate with users, in addition to their core capabilities.
Poke operates as a personal AI agent through text messaging platforms like iMessage, SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp. Launched in March 2026, it has facilitated over 100 million messages in the preceding three months, serving hundreds of thousands of users. A key achievement for Poke was becoming the first AI agent approved for native integration with Apple's Messages for Business platform. This integration allows users to interact with Poke directly within iMessage, a capability that Cognition views as a valuable distribution channel.
Cognition co-founder and CEO Scott Wu stated that the agents developed by The Interaction Company are proactive, personalized, and highly interactive, aligning with the direction Cognition envisions for Devin. He noted that both companies have long believed in the potential of "always-on cloud agents" that operate continuously and initiate communication rather than waiting for prompts. Poke's ability to message users first, follow up on tasks, and maintain context in conversations is seen as a significant asset.
The integration aims to imbue Devin with similar conversational qualities, making interactions with the coding agent feel more natural and less like traditional software. While Devin currently operates within corporate codebases and development tools, the acquisition suggests Cognition wants its AI to exhibit the proactive and friendly engagement style of Poke. Cognition did not disclose specific financial terms for the acquisition, including the payment structure or retention conditions for Poke's team. However, Poke users will continue to have access to the product, with plans to enhance its speed and reliability using Cognition's infrastructure.
This acquisition is part of a broader expansion strategy for Cognition. The company previously acquired the AI coding editor Windsurf in July 2025. More recently, Cognition acquired the TierZero team on July 20, 2026, which specializes in post-deployment software automation. These acquisitions collectively broaden Cognition's product scope from code writing and integrated development environments to software operations and personal AI agents.
The deal highlights a growing trend in the AI industry where the user interface and interaction model are becoming as important as the underlying artificial intelligence models. As AI coding platforms advance in generating code, the challenge of enabling fluid communication and maintaining long-term context in complex workflows remains critical for widespread adoption. The integration of Poke's capabilities into Devin is expected to address this by improving how engineers collaborate with AI assistants.