Perplexity brings on-device AI workflow to Macs with ‘Personal computer’

vm_admin
Perplexity brings on-device AI workflow to Macs with ‘Personal computer’

By Sweta Kumari
Publication Date: 2026-05-08 06:34:00


Most AI assistants today mainly operate through cloud-based chat interfaces. While they can answer questions, summarise information and generate content, they usually do not have direct access to the files, folders, and applications users work with on their devices. This often means users still need to manually move information between AI tools and their everyday apps.

 

Perplexity is now trying to close that gap with “Personal Computer” feature on its Mac app. Instead of limiting AI to a browser tab or cloud-based chatbot, the company is bringing its AI agents directly onto users’ Macs. The system can work with local files, interact with native Mac applications, access web tools, and complete multi-step tasks with minimal user intervention, said Perplexity. According to the company, Perplexity has been careful about one thing: control stays with the user. Sensitive actions require your approval before the AI proceeds.

 


What is Personal Computer?


Personal Computer is built on top of its identically named AI agent platform, which it said is designed to handle longer and more complex tasks automatically. With the new Mac integration, those AI capabilities now extend beyond cloud-based systems and onto users’ local devices.

 


According to Perplexity, the feature can run AI agents across local files, native apps, web tools, and cloud services while still relying on secure servers for some operations.

 


The goal is to reduce the need to constantly…

Related Posts