Poke, a Palo Alto startup that simplifies AI agent interactions to text messaging, has become the first AI agent approved to run on Apple’s Messages for Business platform, TechCrunch reported on June 4. The approval places an autonomous agent directly inside iMessage, a channel previously reserved for businesses communicating with their own customers.
Messages for Business launched years ago as a standardized interface for airlines, retailers, and hotel chains to handle customer support via iMessage. It supported automated chat and live agents but had never been opened to standalone third-party AI agents. Poke is the first to clear that barrier, according to 9to5Mac and AppleInsider.
Poke handles calendar management, health and fitness tracking, smart home control, and photo editing via conversational text messages. It already operates over SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp in some markets, and has relayed roughly 100 million messages since launching in March, according to TechCrunch.
Distribution Economics
The business model Apple has imposed is notable. Poke pays Apple on a per-user basis. Co-founder Marvin von Hagen, who runs The Interaction Company of California (the parent behind Poke), told TechCrunch that the per-user pricing is “significantly lower than Meta AI” after Meta raised fees in response to EU regulation requiring it to permit third-party AI agents on WhatsApp.
“I think that Apple is just noticing this is the best way to offer AI, and actually, good for them, because they charge us,” von Hagen said. “They charge us per user on the platform and actually make money with this, especially if it becomes really big.”
For agent startups, the per-user toll structure represents a new cost of distribution layered on top of existing API inference costs. At scale, it could become a meaningful line item.
Approval Process
Getting approved required Poke to verify live support availability, clearly identify the agent as non-human, submit testimonies from messaging providers, and customize its UI to Apple’s style guide (link previews instead of inline links, Apple-standard buttons and interface elements). Von Hagen told TechCrunch the process took “a couple of months” and predicted similar timelines for competitors.
Timing and Context
The approval comes days before Apple’s WWDC on June 9, where Apple is expected to introduce an AI-optimized Siri and may open the App Store to AI agents, according to TechCrunch. Poke is currently rolling out invites to existing users for the optional iMessage experience.
Backed by Spark Capital and General Catalyst, the 10-person startup has raised $25 million total ($15 million seed plus a recent $10 million extension) and is valued at $300 million post-money, according to TechCrunch.
The signal for agent builders: Apple’s largest messaging platform is now open to autonomous agents, with a per-user revenue share model attached. If WWDC extends this to the App Store, the distribution game for consumer agents changes entirely.