Apple approves Poke as the first AI agent on its Messages for Business platform
Poke, a startup that simplifies AI agents to text messaging, has become the first AI agent approved to run on Apple’s Messages for Business platform, which previously only served businesses communicating with customers. Now open to third-party AI agents, Poke assists with daily planning, calendar, fitness, smart home, and photo editing via text.
Poke, a startup that turns using AI agents into something as simple as sending a text message, has become the first AI agent approved to run on Apple’s Messages for Business platform. Previously, the platform was designed for businesses — airlines, retailers, hotel chains, and others — to communicate with their own customers through iMessage, offering a standardized interface that supports both automated chat and live agents. Until now, it hadn’t been open to standalone third-party AI agents.
Launched in March, Poke is one of the first AI agents designed to be accessible to everyday users who don’t have the technical skill set or inclination to work with command-line tools or more complex agentic systems, like OpenClaw. Today, Poke can help with common activities, like daily planning, managing your calendar, tracking your health and fitness, controlling your smart home, and editing your photos, all via text message. To date, it’s relayed some 100 million messages, the company tells TechCrunch.