Developing
Per Perplexity's own release notes; a vendor's claims about its product, not independent testing.
In 60 seconds
- On September 21, 2026 Perplexity expanded its Computer product with Effort Mode (Light, Standard, High, Ultra).
- It added GPT-6 Astra access for Pro and Max subscribers and a Skills Marketplace for reusable capabilities.
- Portable Computer runs on Windows and Linux with local processing; Hybrid Computer for Mac splits work between cloud and local.
- Earlier, on August 24, it added Computer in Email, where forwarding a message starts a task.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- An answer-engine company is selling an agent that works on a computer and in email.
- Why it matters
- Search players are becoming agent platforms, which affects what content agents read and how brands are surfaced inside tasks.
- Who is affected
- Marketers and analysts who use research tools, and teams comparing assistants.
- Martech stack area
- AI, SEO & Search
- Stack impact
- Note that the product connects to services such as Microsoft 365, Omnisend and Evernote; review what permissions an agent gets.
- Business impact
- Low Release-note descriptions only; we did not test the product.
- What to watch
- How the Skills Marketplace is governed and how the agent handles permissions.
Perplexity’s release notes, as collected by Releasebot, describe a large update to Computer on September 21, 2026.
What was added
- Effort Mode with Light, Standard, High and Ultra settings.
- GPT-6 Astra access for Pro and Max subscribers.
- Portable Computer for Windows and Linux, with local processing, and Hybrid Computer for Mac, splitting work between cloud and the device.
- Skills Marketplace for reusable capabilities, Side Chat for parallel queries, history search and voice noise isolation.
- Connectors including Microsoft 365, Omnisend, Higgsfield and Evernote, and an enterprise analytics API.
On August 24, Perplexity added Computer in Email: forwarding a message to a dedicated address starts a task, and “Computer reads the thread context and replies only to the verified sender,” using existing connectors and permissions. The same notes list new model access and connector approval controls with an “Always ask” option.
Our read
Perplexity is moving from answering questions to doing work, as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google also are. For marketers the relevant effect is that agents read pages and tools on a person’s behalf, so visibility inside an agent task matters alongside visibility in an answer. These are release-note descriptions, not tested results, and permissions deserve review before connecting work accounts.
Sources
- Releasebot: Perplexity release notes, September 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Source of the release contents, dates and features; a third-party aggregator of Perplexity's notes.