Perplexity launches Hybrid Compute on Mac

Perplexity's Hybrid Compute creates a pragmatic template for desktop agents by decoupling heavy reasoning from sensitive local file access. Local execution guarantees proprietary files and codebase context stay on-device, resolving a major enterprise security objection. Cloud offloading ensures users retain access to frontier reasoning models for broad research without bogging down local hardware. The 24GB memory requirement establishes a high barrier to entry, cutting off base-tier Apple silicon machines. Pushes rivals like ChatGPT desktop and Claude Coworker to implement local-first privacy boundaries for file manipulation.