Perplexity's Computer AI agent now runs locally on high-end Nvidia hardware

Perplexity Launches Local AI Agent

Perplexity, in partnership with Nvidia, has introduced Portable Computer, a desktop version of its agentic AI assistant, Computer. This new offering allows the AI agent to operate locally on user hardware, moving away from cloud-based execution for certain functionalities.

Hardware Requirements and Costs

Running Portable Computer locally requires specific hardware. Users need an Nvidia RTX card with at least 24GB of GPU VRAM, or an Nvidia DGX Spark desktop. The DGX Spark costs $4,800, while an older RTX 3090 card with 24GB VRAM currently exceeds $1,500, indicating a substantial investment for local deployment.

Technical Adaptations for Local Operation

Adapting Computer for local execution involved significant engineering work. The team had to re-engineer parts of the software stack to enable local capabilities such as file reading and editing, running shell commands, and PDF processing. This also included creating a local sandbox for the agent to operate within, while still allowing connections to external services.

Nate Kupp, Perplexity’s VP of Computer Enterprise and Infrastructure, stated that the harness, which manages the agent's tasks, tool calls, and file management, accounted for most of the engineering effort. The orchestrator, which maintains the agent loop, is deterministic code and not an additional AI model, ensuring policy enforcement and secure tool execution within an OS-level sandbox.