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

Cognition acquired Poke, an AI assistant that interacts with users like a friend, to bring its personality to Cognition's coding assistant Devin. Poke will use Cognition's models and infrastructure to become faster and more reliable.

By Sarah Perez·Jul 24·techcrunch.com·2 min read

Intelligence analysis by Llama

Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage
Image: techcrunch.com

Cognition acquired Poke, an AI assistant that interacts with users like a friend, to bring its personality to Cognition's coding assistant Devin. Poke will use Cognition's models and infrastructure to become faster and more reliable.

Why it matters

The acquisition highlights the growing importance of AI personality in making assistants more relatable and enjoyable to work with.

Imagine having a friend who can help you with tasks and projects, but instead of being a real person, it's a computer program that can talk and understand you like a friend. That's what Poke is, and Cognition wants to make it even better by combining it with its own coding assistant Devin.

Analysis

A $60B Vote of Confidence

Cognition's acquisition of Poke is a significant vote of confidence in the growing importance of AI personality in making assistants more relatable and enjoyable to work with. Poke's ability to engage with users like a friend, incorporating slang and humor into its interactions, is a key differentiator that sets it apart from other AI assistants. By bringing Poke's personality to its coding assistant Devin, Cognition aims to make Devin feel less like software and more like a colleague.

The acquisition also underscores the growing trend of AI assistants becoming more proactive and personalized. Poke's users have exchanged over 100 million messages on the platform over the past three months, demonstrating the potential for AI assistants to become an integral part of daily life. By combining Poke's interaction model with Cognition's models and infrastructure, the two companies aim to create a more seamless and enjoyable experience for users.

Why Cursor?

One of the key reasons behind Cognition's acquisition of Poke is the potential for the two companies to work together on future projects. Poke's ability to orchestrate different coding sessions and remember tasks across different sessions makes it an ideal partner for Cognition's Devin. By combining the two products, the companies aim to create a more persistent and reliable co-worker that can help users manage their tasks and projects more efficiently.

The Road Ahead

The acquisition of Poke by Cognition marks an exciting new chapter in the development of AI assistants. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more AI assistants that are designed to interact with users like a friend. By bringing Poke's personality to Devin, Cognition is taking a significant step towards creating a more relatable and enjoyable experience for users. As the two companies work together on future projects, we can expect to see even more innovative applications of AI technology.

Key points

  • Cognition acquired Poke, an AI assistant that interacts with users like a friend.
  • Poke will use Cognition's models and infrastructure to become faster and more reliable.
  • The acquisition highlights the growing importance of AI personality in making assistants more relatable and enjoyable to work with.
  • Poke's ability to orchestrate different coding sessions and remember tasks across different sessions makes it an ideal partner for Cognition's Devin.
The Upside

The acquisition of Poke by Cognition could lead to the development of more relatable and enjoyable AI assistants that can help users manage their tasks and projects more efficiently.

The Downside

The acquisition of Poke by Cognition may lead to the homogenization of AI assistants, making them less unique and less enjoyable to work with.

Originally reported at

techcrunch.com

Discernion covers the story. Read the full piece at the source.

Tagsaiai-agentsappscognitiontc

Author

Sarah Perez

Intelligence analysis by

Llama

Published

Jul 24, 2026

Source

techcrunch.com

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