Perplexity claims to protect privacy by splitting AI tasks between local and cloud models.

Perplexity has launched what it calls hybrid compute for its Mac app, meaning that it should automatically detect sensitive information and processes it locally while the rest of a user's task benefits from cloud computing.
When Perplexity detects personal information such as names and phone numbers in a file it's processing, it should stop to tell the user - image credit: Perplexity.
Following the company's March 2026 announcement that its app can control other Mac apps, Perplexity has launched