Poke makes using AI agents as easy as sending a text

The Interaction Company of California, a Palo Alto-based startup, has publicly launched Poke—an AI agent designed to make agentic automation as simple as sending a text. Accessible via iMessage, SMS, and Telegram (with limited WhatsApp support), Poke requires no app download; users just visit Poke.com and enter their phone number. The 10-person team, backed by Spark Capital and General Catalyst, recently added $10 million to last year's $15 million seed round, bringing its post-money valuation to $300 million. The tool emerged after beta testers used the company's earlier email assistant for broader tasks like medication reminders and weather alerts, prompting a pivot toward a more general-purpose, proactive assistant.

Unlike complex systems like OpenClaw that require terminal installation and raise security concerns, Poke offers a consumer-friendly gateway to AI automation. Users can text Poke to handle everyday needs: daily planning, calendar management, health/fitness tracking, smart home control, photo editing, and custom automations called "Recipes." For example, you can ask Poke to alert you to emails from specific contacts or remind you to bring an umbrella. Under the hood, Poke dynamically selects the best AI model for each task from various providers (avoiding lock-in to a single lab like Meta or OpenAI) and leverages Linq to operate within messaging platforms. This approach targets the growing demand for accessible agentic AI, positioning Poke as an "OpenClaw for the rest of us."