Perplexity, the AI search company, is rolling out an artificial intelligence assistant that turns an Apple Mac into an always-on digital worker capable of managing files, reading emails and carrying out tasks across applications without constant human supervision.
The product, called Personal Computer, is available from today to subscribers on Perplexity's top-tier Max plan and to everyone who joined a waitlist when the service was first announced last month.
Personal Computer is built to run on Apple's Mac mini, a compact desktop computer that has become unexpectedly popular among AI developers because of its combination of processing power and low energy consumption.
Once installed, the software operates continuously in the background, connecting to local files, native Apple applications including iMessage, Mail and Calendar, and the web browser.
Perplexity describes the system as a digital proxy that accepts broad objectives rather than specific commands, breaks them into smaller tasks, and works through them over hours or even days without needing the user to be present.
Users can also start a task from an iPhone and have the assistant carry out the work on their desktop machine remotely, with access secured by two-factor authentication.
The concept draws on OpenClaw, an open-source personal AI assistant framework that gained a cult following earlier this year when hobbyists began running it on stacks of Mac minis at home before the project's momentum stalled.
Perplexity has taken that idea and wrapped it in a commercial product with built-in safety features, including a requirement for user approval before the assistant takes sensitive actions, a full log of everything it does, and a kill switch that allows immediate shutdown.
The company, which does not build its own large language models but instead orchestrates access to roughly 20 models made by other companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, is positioning Personal Computer as justification for its premium pricing.
Access requires a Perplexity Max subscription costing $200 a month, which also includes 10,000 monthly credits for computing tasks.
The company's cheaper Pro plan, at $20 a month, does not include the Mac-based assistant but does offer access to Perplexity Computer, a less capable, web-only version that operates in the cloud rather than on a local machine.
The launch comes as the company expands across Apple's product range, having recently released Comet, an AI-powered web browser for iPhone and iPad.
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Whether enough users will pay $200 a month for an AI that runs on a spare desktop remains an open question, particularly given the lack of published detail on how quickly credits are consumed or how the system handles sensitive personal data.
Perplexity claims that in internal testing of more than 16,000 tasks, its Computer system completed what it estimated to be more than three years of work in four weeks, though those figures should be treated as marketing rather than an independently verified benchmark.
The recap
- Perplexity launches Personal Computer, a Mac artificial intelligence assistant.
- Perplexity Max subscription costs $200/month for Personal Computer access.
- Rollout goes to waitlist members and all Max subscribers starting today.