Perplexity is expanding its Computer agent with a local variant called Portable Computer, now available on Windows. Unlike the cloud-based version of the agent, this iteration runs models directly on the device, accelerated by NVIDIA RTX GPUs. The stated goal is to let an AI agent plan and carry out multistep tasks without sending user data to remote servers.
The move fits a broader trend: as compact language models become more capable, it is increasingly feasible to run fairly sophisticated agents on consumer hardware. Portable Computer can analyze local data, pull together information from different sources on the machine, and complete tasks that previously required constant round trips to the cloud.
For NVIDIA, the announcement highlights the relevance of its RTX cards beyond gaming, positioning PCs equipped with these GPUs as credible platforms for running local AI agents. The partnership with Perplexity adds to a growing list of software makers optimizing their tools to take advantage of the hardware acceleration available on high-end Windows machines.
The privacy pitch — keeping sensitive information on-device rather than transmitting it to third-party servers — remains the central selling point. What remains to be seen is whether local model performance, even with dedicated hardware acceleration, can consistently match the capabilities of fully cloud-hosted agents, particularly on longer or more complex tasks.