capital
Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage
July 25, 2026
Cognition has acquired Poke, the AI assistant you text like a friend, in a deal valuing the startup in the low nine figures, and plans to bring Poke’s conversational style and interaction model into its coding agent Devin. The move reflects a growing view that AI personality and user interaction design are becoming competitive advantages alongside the underlying models.
AI coding startup Cognition has acquired Poke, the AI assistant you text like a friend, in a deal valuing the startup in the low nine figures. The acquisition brings Poke’s conversational style and interaction model to Cognition’s coding agent Devin, reflecting a growing belief that how AI assistants interact with users is as important as the models powering them.
Source: techcrunch.com