Microsoft’s New ‘Fara-7B’ AI Agent Rivals GPT-4o, Runs Locally on Your PC

Microsoft’s Fara-7B is a 7B-parameter computer-use agent that runs locally on PCs, rivals GPT-4o on web tasks, and adds safety checkpoints for risky actions.

Microsoft has unveiled Fara-7B, a compact computer-use AI model designed to perform tasks the way a human would, using a mouse, a keyboard, and whatever is shown on the screen.

The model is the latest in Microsoft’s push toward on-device, agentic AI. According to the Microsoft Research Blog, “Computer Use Agent (CUA) models like Fara-7B leverage computer interfaces, such as a mouse and keyboard, to complete tasks on behalf of users.”

At just 7 billion parameters, the system is small enough to run directly on PCs, including Windows devices with built-in NPUs. Microsoft says local execution reduces latency and helps protect privacy because user data never leaves the device.

Rather than reading code or relying on accessibility metadata, Fara-7B navigates ...