Apple has for the first time let a standalone AI agent onto its Messages for Business platform - and it's not one of the giants, but a ten-person startup called Poke. Until now that platform only served communication between companies and clients - airlines, shops, hotel chains. Now, for the first time, a third-party AI assistant that talks directly to the user is entering iMessage.

Poke, launched in March, targets ordinary people who don't want to wrestle with complex tools and commands. Through a plain message it helps with planning the day, the calendar, tracking health and exercise, managing the smart home and editing photos. The company claims it has so far relayed around 100 million messages. It works over SMS, Telegram and WhatsApp in some markets, and is now adding iMessage too.

Entry wasn't free in any sense. Apple demanded proof that Poke can provide live support when needed, and that the AI agent's status is clear to the user at all times. „This took several months to meet all the standards, and it'll take just as long for anyone else who wants to build on this,” admits Marvin von Hagen, co-founder of the parent company. Translated: Apple has raised the barrier high enough that not just anyone can get in.

Then there's the money. Poke pays Apple per user - a model von Hagen describes as „significantly cheaper than Meta AI,” following the regulatory changes in the EU that forced third-party AI agents onto WhatsApp. „They charge us per user on the platform and they really make money from it,” he says. The startup, backed by Spark Capital and General Catalyst, recently raised 10 million dollars on top of a previous round of 15 million, at an estimated valuation of 300 million. Ten people, three hundred million - the maths of the AI euphoria in a single sentence.