Perplexity and Nvidia bring locally-run AI tools to keep your data private
Last Updated: 2026-08-26 15:02:31
With all the talk around AI, it has been quite strange to see one company missing out of the headlines in recent weeks but Perplexity AI is back and it has launched a new useful feature for the users. Portable Computer is the new AI tool from the company that promises to run locally on the device to keep your data private and secure.
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Perplexity launches local AI tool for data privacy.- Tool requires Nvidia GPUs and Linux systems.
- Portable Computer runs AI agents on-device.
This is a big shift from Perplexity because running AI data on the cloud has been the prescribed model for most companies but we are now seeing the need to go on-device which not only need higher computing power but more graphics load as well.
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Which is why Perplexity says Portable Computer needs high-end hardware that should have Nvidia GPU on board as well. You are also getting it with Linux support for now with the Windows version expected at a later date.
Run AI agent without cloud access
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Running AI through the cloud is expensive but if you make it work through the local system/device, not only is the data safe but processed faster as well. Apple is going big with its private compute and on-device processing with the new iPhones and Mac systems.
Perplexity is offering this at the software level. The company is offering the whole AI ecosystem, including AI agents that are generally tougher to run locally because of the amount of tasks and data they have to handle which becomes a challenge on the device. But Portable Computer gives you the entire stack where the agent can use the tools but also execute the codes.
It is not like the feature won’t need cloud use at all. But when that does happen, the company’s tool will seek user permission to run the data on the cloud.
Too good to be true?
When you see a company heavily focused on keeping data private you start to wonder if there is a catch. In this case, the Personal Computer running on the local system needs the hardware to be really powerful.
Firstly, you need a Linux system with an Nvidia GPU that has at least 24GB of VRAM which means only the professionals with access to such hardware can use this feature. For regular users and their basic systems, the current methods of using AI (both locally and the cloud) continues.