I already had great first impressions of Perplexity Computer, but now the company is turning the product into a full-on OpenClaw competitor.

On Wednesday, at its first developer day event, Perplexity announced Personal Computer, which turns the product from a browser-based agent into a 24/7 proactive AI running on a Mac mini. (These agents are driving more revenue for Apple than any company in the AI ecosystem, but that's a story for another day.)

The big difference with the new product is that its agents can directly use local files and apps, while the Computer browser agent is limited to cloud data and cloud services. It can now act like a digital worker operating on a dedicated machine.

You can describe an outcome you're looking to achieve in natural language, and then Perplexity's agent can break it into subtasks and now carry them out on the Mac by browsing folders, reading and editing documents, and coordinating apps. Meanwhile, it prioritizes safety by giving you a kill switch, letting you manage permissions, and logging all the agent's activities so you can audit them. It will also let you query the agent from any device, a flagship feature of OpenClaw.

When asked about the difference between Perplexity's new agent and OpenClaw at the company's inaugural developer event, CEO Aravind Srinavas said, "Perplexity Computer is meant for serious people."

The Deep View founder, Faris Kojok, attended Wednesday's developer event and concluded that Perplexity is on the right track.

He said, "If AI is going to become a real computer, it probably needs:

• model orchestration
• tool use
• browser access
• memory
• long-running execution
• secure context across your work and personal environment

He added, "That’s a much bigger shift than 'better chat.' The product worth building is a software [tool] that can actually do the work, not just be an assistant."

There was also plenty of positive chatter about the new product on Twitter, especially comparing it to OpenClaw.

Another important difference is that Perplexity's product is not open-source. That might make it easier to get started, but it will also be less customizable and extensible.

While Perplexity announced Personal Computer on Wednesday, it's not yet available to use. The company simply opened the waitlist. At the developer event, Perplexity also announced enterprise versions of Perplexity Computer and its Comet web browser.

Our Deeper View

Perplexity revealed details about the internal testing phase of Computer. In four weeks, they calculated that it saved $1.6 million in labor costs and performed the equivalent of 3.25 years of work. That was enough to convince the team they needed to get the product into people's hands as quickly as possible. Led by Claude Code and OpenClaw, personal AI agents are dominating the tech narrative so far in 2026. Perplexity has now rapidly emerged as a key player. As powerful as OpenClaw and Claude Code are, they remain products for engineers. The first teams that bring the benefits of personal AI agents to the broader public will be doing a tremendous service. But it has to be dead simple to use while maintaining strong security and privacy. Perplexity is determined to make a run at it, and they are a step ahead of Anthropic and OpenAI, for now.