Perplexity's Mac app now talks with a smarter, interruptible voice

Perplexity has upgraded the voice mode in its Mac app. It now runs on gpt-live-1, a voice model OpenAI unveiled earlier this year. The key feature is that the model can listen to you while it is speaking. That means you can talk more like you would in a real conversation, instead of waiting for it to finish. 9to5Mac reported the change.

What changed

Perplexity is an AI app that answers questions. Its Mac app already had a voice mode. The update swaps in OpenAI's model behind the scenes. Perplexity has not been quoted in the material on how it works day to day, but the listening-while-speaking ability is the part that sets this model apart.

Separately, Perplexity recently added the ability to run AI directly on the Mac, without relying on cloud models. That brings an offline mode and options for privacy-focused work, since your requests do not have to leave your computer.

What is not known yet

• Whether the new voice mode costs extra or needs a paid plan.
• Which Macs and software versions support it.
• Whether the voice upgrade is coming to other devices, such as iPhone.
• Whether the new voice mode works with the on-device AI or only online.

Those details were not in the report. For Mac users who already use Perplexity, the voice mode is the place to look. Anyone who cares about keeping data private can also check the separate on-device option.