Poke becomes first AI agent approved to operate on Apple's Messages for Business platform

Poke, a startup founded by Marvin von Hagen at The Interaction Company of California, is the first AI agent approved to run on Apple's Messages for Business platform. The company has relayed some 100 million messages to date and operates over SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp; iMessage is now being added to its supported platforms.

Poke allows users to interact with an AI agent (a system that can independently take actions and make decisions) via text message to help with daily planning, calendar management, health and fitness tracking, smart home control, and photo editing. Getting Apple's approval required Poke to verify it could offer live support if needed, clearly identify itself as an AI agent, and customize its interface to meet Apple's guidelines, a process that took a couple of months.

Poke operates on a per-user basis pricing model with Apple, which von Hagen states is significantly lower than Meta AI's fees after the latter increased prices in response to EU regulation. The startup was recently backed by an additional $10 million in funding on top of a $15 million seed round from last year, and is now valued at $300 million post-money.