Perplexity

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Personal Computer is a new capability from Perplexity that securely connects to any folder to search, read, and write files locally, and can access and work across iMessage, Apple Mail, Calendar and other native Mac apps. It runs inside the Perplexity Mac app and extends the company's answer engine from a chat box into an orchestration layer that can take actions across a user's desktop, connectors, and browser. The launch matters because it pushes Perplexity past research-style Q&A and into agentic workflows on the machine itself. Instead of just answering questions in a chat box, the system acts as an orchestrator, and users can trigger the assistant to work across local files and apps. Practical examples include asking it to take a messy Downloads folder and sort it into clear project folders with sensible names, and activating it inside Notes by pressing both CMD keys so it can read a to-do list, reason about how to accomplish each task, and work across local files. The target audience is power users and professionals already paying for Perplexity's top tier: the rollout begins with Perplexity Max subscribers and people on the waitlist, with tasks that can start from an iPhone and continue on the Mac. Personal Computer was announced in March and was available on a waitlist basis before this official rollout, positioning it as Perplexity's answer to the growing field of on-device AI agents competing for a spot in daily desktop workflows.

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