MacPaw Partners with Liquid AI to Build On-Device AI Stack for Mac Developers

On August 5, 2026, Ukrainian app developer MacPaw announced a strategic partnership with Liquid AI to build an on-device AI technology stack for macOS. The collaboration integrates Liquid Foundation Models with MacPaw's Elix inference engine and Mnemos memory layer, starting with the Eney assistant. This local architecture enhances privacy and enables offline agentic workflows. MacPaw plans to extend this stack to third-party developers via Setapp, which has over 150,000 paying users, alongside a credit-based pricing model for AI operations.

MacPaw–Liquid AI partnership

• ▪MacPaw announced a strategic, long-term partnership with Liquid AI on August 5, 2026, to co-develop an on-device AI technology stack specifically for the Mac
• ▪Liquid AI's foundation models are currently utilized for on-device AI workloads by companies including Mercedes-Benz, Insilico Medicine, and Shopify
• ▪The collaboration between MacPaw and Liquid AI will first be implemented in Eney, MacPaw's AI assistant for macOS, with results expected later in 2026

Elix on-device inference system

• ▪MacPaw and Liquid AI are developing Elix, an on-device inference system designed to execute AI functions directly on Apple silicon
• ▪The Elix inference engine is paired with Mnemos, MacPaw's local memory layer, to allow the Eney assistant to retain context across interactions

Privacy through local processing

• ▪Running AI models locally on user devices improves data privacy and security by preventing personal data from leaving the Mac
• ▪Liquid AI designs and tailors its model architectures to specific hardware before training to optimize efficiency for on-device execution

Offline execution capabilities

• ▪The on-device AI stack will allow applications to access cloud models from companies like Google when remote processing is the better tool
• ▪Locally hosted AI models enable Mac users to run assistants and agentic workflows offline without requiring a constant internet connection

SetApp AI integration

• ▪MacPaw plans to make the co-developed AI stack available to third-party developers through Setapp, its subscription-based software marketplace
• ▪Setapp has over 150,000 paying users, providing a pre-existing customer base for the rollout of new AI-integrated applications

Credit-based pricing model

• ▪The credit-based system is designed to offer flexibility by allowing Setapp users to pay only for the AI operations they consume
• ▪MacPaw is experimenting with credit-based pricing for Setapp, where users perform AI operations based on acquired credits and task complexity