Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage

Cognition acquired Poke in a low-nine-figure deal to bring a more conversational, friend-like personality to its AI coding assistant Devin.

Poke, from The Interaction Company of California, will keep operating separately for now while benefiting from Cognition’s models and infrastructure for speed and reliability.

The deal shows AI competition is increasingly shifting from raw model quality to user experience, persistence, and human-like interaction design.