Apple approves Poke as the first AI agent on its Messages for Business platform
Poke becomes the first AI agent approved for Apple’s Messages for Business, giving it iMessage access and a new per-user distribution model.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Apple has approved Poke, a startup AI agent, to operate on Messages for Business, making it the first third-party AI agent on the platform. The deal lets Poke add iMessage support and gives Apple a per-user revenue stream.
Poke is like a helper that answers texts for people. Apple said this helper can use iMessage now, as long as it follows Apple’s rules, like wearing a name tag and acting clearly like a robot helper.
Analysis
What happened
Poke, a startup built around making AI agents usable through plain text messages, says Apple has approved it as the first AI agent on the company’s Messages for Business platform. Until now, that platform was used by businesses such as airlines, retailers, and hotel chains to talk to customers in iMessage through a standardized interface that supports automated chat and live agents.
What Poke does
Launched in March, Poke is aimed at everyday users rather than technical users. The company says the service can help with daily planning, calendar management, health and fitness tracking, smart home control, and photo editing. Poke says it has handled about 100 million messages so far. It already works over SMS, Telegram, and, in some markets, WhatsApp, and iMessage is now being added to that list.
Why Apple approved it
According to the article, Apple required Poke to show that it could provide live support if needed and that the AI agent was clearly identified as an AI. Poke also submitted testimony from its messaging providers and adjusted its interface to match Apple’s rules. That includes using link previews instead of inline links and following Apple’s style guidance for buttons and other interface elements.
Business implications
Poke co-founder Marvin von Hagen says the startup will pay Apple on a per-user basis, though he would not disclose pricing. He said the cost is lower than Meta AI’s fees after Meta raised prices in response to EU regulation that required it to allow third-party AI agents on WhatsApp. The article frames this as both a possible new revenue stream for Apple and a new distribution cost for AI agent startups.
Apple has not said whether it will announce anything similar at WWDC next week. Poke, backed by Spark Capital, General Catalyst, and other angels, recently added $10 million on top of a prior $15 million seed round and is valued at $300 million post-money.
Key points
- Poke says it is the first AI agent approved for Apple’s Messages for Business platform.
- The approval lets Poke add iMessage support to its existing SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp coverage.
- Apple required clear AI labeling, live support capability, and UI changes to match its standards.
- Poke says Apple will charge it on a per-user basis, creating a new distribution cost for AI startups.
- The startup says it has handled about 100 million messages and recently raised an additional $10 million.
If this works well, Poke could reach more users through iMessage without changing how the service works for other messaging apps. Apple could also create a clearer path for other AI agents if the approval process proves stable and predictable.
The approval process may slow down other AI agent startups, since Poke says it took months to meet Apple’s standards. The per-user fee could also make distribution more expensive as AI agents scale, especially if Apple’s rules or pricing tighten over time.
