Summary
On August 25, 2026, Perplexity introduced Portable Computer, an on-device version of its cloud-based Perplexity Computer agent that runs locally on desktops with Nvidia silicon. Like the cloud tool, it performs multi-step tasks such as building web apps, but executes on the user's own machine.
What changed
Perplexity released Portable Computer, a locally-running build of its Perplexity Computer agent that executes multi-step tasks on desktops equipped with Nvidia GPUs, alongside a Computer in Email feature that lets users start and continue Computer sessions from email threads.
Why it matters
Moving an agent on-device targets latency, cost, and data-locality concerns that keep regulated or privacy-sensitive users off cloud agents, and leans on local Nvidia hardware rather than rented cloud compute. It marks Perplexity extending from search into a general-purpose task agent that can run where the user's data already lives.
Evidence excerpt
Perplexity AI introduced Portable Computer, an AI agent designed to run on desktops equipped with Nvidia silicon. Portable Computer is an on-device version of a cloud-based AI agent called Perplexity Computer that debuted in February; both perform multi-step tasks such as developing web applications.