Perplexity Releases Personal Computer, Turning a Mac Mini Into an Always-On AI Agent

Perplexity has begun rolling out Personal Computer, a new AI system that runs continuously on a dedicated Mac mini and integrates directly with a user's local files, native apps, and workflows.

Credit: Perplexity

The company announced the release today via its official X account, stating it is now available to all Perplexity Max subscribers and those who joined the earlier waitlist.

Personal Computer builds directly on Perplexity Computer, the cloud-based agent system the company introduced on February 25.

Where the earlier version operated in isolated cloud environments to handle multi-step tasks across models and tools, the new local version adds persistent access to a user's own machine.

According to the original announcement in Perplexity's March 11 blog post titled "Everything is Computer," the system "runs on a dedicated Mac mini that can run 24/7, connected to your local apps and Perplexity’s secure servers." It functions as "a digital proxy for you, working constantly on your behalf and allowing you to orchestrate all of your tools, tasks, and files from any device, anywhere."

Credit: Perplexity

Setup requires the updated Perplexity Mac app, which is available for macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Once installed on a Mac mini, Personal Computer gains secure access to any designated folders for reading, searching, and writing files.

It can interact with native Mac applications including Mail, Finder, Slack, Messages, Notes, Calendar, and the company's own Comet browser.

Users can initiate tasks from an iPhone or any other device, then hand off to the Mac mini to continue working in the background with 2FA protection.

The system uses Perplexity's multi-model orchestration layer, routing subtasks across more than 20 frontier models as needed while maintaining a single conversational interface.

A dedicated taskbar shortcut on the Mac summons the agent at any time. Voice mode allows natural spoken commands, and the agent remains context-aware of the active application.

Security controls include explicit user approval for any sensitive action, a complete audit trail for every session, and an immediate kill switch.

Perplexity AI emphasized these safeguards in the initial March announcement, noting that the product operates in a secure environment designed to prevent unauthorized access or unintended operations.

Today's rollout of Personal Computer by Perplexity marks the shift from waitlist testing to broader availability for paid users of the AI platform.

Perplexity has not disclosed exact pricing details beyond tying access to the Max subscription tier, nor has it confirmed Windows or non-Apple hardware support at launch.

The release positions Personal Computer as a hybrid local-cloud agent that remains under the user's direct control while leveraging Perplexity's existing search accuracy, research tools, and agent capabilities.

It gives subscribers a persistent digital worker that can monitor triggers, execute proactive tasks, and maintain context across files and sessions without requiring constant user supervision.