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Perplexity's 'Personal Computer' Lets AI Agents Access Your Local Files Perplexity AI has introduced a "Personal Computer" agent system that can run on a local machine such as a Mac mini, giving its AI agents access to a user's files and applications to automate tasks. According to CEO Aravind Srinivas, the heavy AI processing runs on Perplexity's "secure servers" but sensitive actions will require user approval. There will also be activity logs and a kill switch available to help ease concerns. AppleInsider reports: Perplexity Computer is, effectively, an AI that is a go-between for other AIs. Instead of issuing specific instructions to multiple AIs, you provide the general outcome of the task to Perplexity Computer. Perplexity Computer then breaks down the task into subtasks, which it then provides to sub-agents to do the actual work. In effect, you're talking to a project manager, who then delegates the task to other AIs, before combining the results and presenting them to you. The managing AI has a lot more freedom in how it orders its subordinates than users may think. While one may create documents while another gathers data, the manager may go as far as to order the creation of software to complete its tasks. Personal Computer is an extension of this, in that it is a locally run app that ideally runs on a Mac mini. The app gives always-on, local access to the Mac's files and apps, which Perplexity Computer and the Comet Assistant can use and alter if required. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Perplexity's+'Personal+Com…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashd…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/191200/perplexitys-pe… at Slashdot. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/191200/perplexitys-pe…

Honda Cancels All Three EVs That It Planned To Build In the US sinij shares a report from Car and Driver: Honda is making a monumental shift in its business plans. The automaker is canceling the development and launch of the 0 Series SUV, the 0 Series saloon, and the Acura RSX, and as a result, expects to take a significant financial hit in 2026 [of up to $15.8 billion]. The automaker was blunt in its announcement of the changing plans, citing American tariff policies and the unpredictable nature surrounding American EV incentives and fossil fuel regulations. In its release marking the announcement, Honda made it clear that it expected to incur further financial losses over the long term if it went through with launching the cars. Honda also called out changing customer values in China, with buyers focusing more on software features and less on things like fuel efficiency and cabin space. In its release regarding the changing product plans, Honda was shockingly blunt about its situation, saying that it was simply unable to deliver products that offer a better value than that of newer Chinese manufacturers. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Honda+Cancels+All+Three+EV…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1836249/honda-ca… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1836249/honda-ca…

Anthropic's Claude AI Can Respond With Charts, Diagrams, and Other Visualschat Anthropic updated Claude so it can automatically generate charts, diagrams, and other interactive visualizations directly inside conversations, rather than only in a side panel. The new visualizations are rolling out now to all users. The Verge reports: As an example, Anthropic says a conversation about the periodic table could lead Claude to generate a visualization of it, featuring interactive elements that let you click inside the table for more information. Another example shows how Claude can generate a visual related to a question about how weight travels through a building. Though Claude will automatically determine whether it should generate a visualization in your chat, Anthropic notes that you can also ask the chatbot to generate a diagram, table, or chart directly. [...] Anthropic already allows you to create charts, documents, tools, and apps through Claude's "artifacts" feature, which opens in a side panel where you can interact, share, and download the AI-generated creation. But, as noted by Anthropic, artifacts are persistent, while the visualizations created within Claude's conversations will change or disappear as the conversation progresses. You can also ask Claude to make changes to the visualizations it creates. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Anthropic's+Claude+AI+Can+…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffeatur…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://features.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1710246/anth… at Slashdot. https://features.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/1710246/anth…

Atlassian CEO Cites AI Shift When Announcing Plan To Shed 1,600 Jobs An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Atlassian plans to cut 1,600 jobs or a 10th of its global workforce, joining rivals in slashing staffing to cope with the advent of AI and a broader post-Covid industry slowdown. Australian billionaire founder Mike Cannon-Brookes explained the reductions in a staff memo, while also announcing his chief technology officer was leaving the Sydney-based company. "It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas," Cannon-Brookes said. "It does." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Atlassian+CEO+Cites+AI+Shi…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fslashd…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0722207/atlassian-ceo… at Slashdot. https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0722207/atlassian-ceo…

Reducing Europe's Nuclear Energy Sector Was 'Strategic Mistake', EU Chief Says An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Reducing Europe's nuclear energy sector was a "strategic mistake," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, as governments grapple with an energy crunch from the Iran war. Europe produced around a third of electricity from nuclear power in 1990 but that has fallen to 15%, she told an event in Paris, leaving it reliant on oil and gas imports whose prices have surged in recent days. Being "completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports" of fossil fuels puts Europe at a disadvantage to other regions, von der Leyen said in a speech. "This reduction in the share of nuclear was a choice. I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power." The report notes that the EU does not directly fund nuclear energy projects because all 27 member states have not unanimously supported the technology. However, von der Leyen said the Commission plans to provide a 200-million-euro guarantee from the EU's carbon market to help attract private investment in innovative nuclear technologies. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Reducing+Europe's+Nuclear+…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhardwa…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0137208/redu… at Slashdot. https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/12/0137208/redu…

Only Half of Americans Went To a Movie Theater In 2025, Study Finds A Pew Research Center survey found that only 53% of U.S. adults went to a movie theater in the past year, while 7% said they've never seen a movie in a theater at all. "The findings reflected a domestic box office still fighting to regain its footing since the COVID-19 pandemic, when ticket sales collapsed 81% in 2020 due to theater closures," reports Variety. From the report: In 2025, moviegoers in the U.S. and Canada bought 769.2 million tickets, less than half of the all-time peak of roughly 1.6 billion tickets sold in 2002, according to data from Nash Information Services. However, an August 2025 study field by NRG/National Research Group showed that 77% of Americans ages 12-74 went to see at least one movie in a theater in the previous 12 months. Box office revenue peaked at an inflation-adjusted $16.4 billion in 2002, and annual ticket revenue held relatively steady through the 2000s and 2010s before falling to under $3 billion in 2020 when theaters closed for months. Last year, U.S. theaters sold just over $9 billion worth of tickets, per media analytics firm Comscore. The number represents a recovery, but nowhere near a full one, as ticket sales have been lagging around 20% below pre-pandemic levels. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Only+Half+of+Americans+Wen…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fentert…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2348256… at Slashdot. https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2348256…

GFiber and Astound Broadband To Join Forces GFiber (a.k.a. Google Fiber) and Astound Broadband announced that they plan to merge into a deal backed by infrastructure investor Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The resulting company will be majority owned by Stonepeak, with Alphabet becoming a "significant minority shareholder." Light Reading reports: Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners teamed with Patriot Media to acquire Astound in November 2020 for $8.1 billion. Stonepeak is Astound's largest investor. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. The combined business will be led by the existing GFiber executive team. GFiber is currently led by CEO Dinni Jain. Jain, a former Time Warner Cable and Insight Communications exec, took the helm of what was then called Google Fiber in 2018. "This agreement advances GFiber's mission of redefining internet connectivity and represents a major step toward its goal of operational and financial independence," the companies said. "GFiber will have the external capital and strategic focus needed to accelerate its next phase of growth, expanding its customer-first approach and pioneering fiber technology across the country." GFiber's combination with Astound represents "a strategic opportunity to scale our customer-focused approach to connect more households to a truly different type of internet service," Jain said in a statement. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=GFiber+and+Astound+Broadba…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.s…" rel="nofollow"><img src=""></a> https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2342217/gfiber-a… at Slashdot. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/11/2342217/gfiber-a…