{"slug": "stardock-lets-teams-share-one-ai-session-without-moving-it-to-the-cloud", "title": "Stardock lets teams share one AI session without moving it to the cloud", "summary": "Stardock Software released Clairvoyance 0.85 on August 25, 2026, introducing Multiplayer AI, which lets multiple people join and work in a live AI-agent session that remains on the host's computer rather than moving to the cloud. Founder and CEO Brad Wardell said the feature aims to make AI work a team process, comparing it to collaborative documents like Google Docs. The update allows visitors to create agents on their own machines and bring them into the host workspace, with large file reads using direct peer-to-peer connections.", "body_md": "# Stardock lets teams share one AI session without moving it to the cloud\n\n**Brad Wardell's Clairvoyance 0.85 lets colleagues work with the same agents while the host computer retains the session, files and local execution.**\n\nBy [Ryan Merket](/author/ryan-merket)\n· Published\n· Updated\n\nPrimary source: [PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clairvoyance-adds-multiplayer-ai-letting-multiple-people-work-inside-one-live-ai-session-running-on-your-own-machine-302859683.html)\n\n## Why it matters\n\nShared agent sessions could turn AI work from an individual prompt craft into a team process. Clairvoyance's visitor-machine access also makes authentication, scoped permissions and audit records central questions for organizations evaluating the product.\n\n[Brad Wardell](https://www.stardock.com/about/leadership?ref=runtimewire)'s [Stardock Software](https://stardock.com/?ref=runtimewire) released [Clairvoyance 0.85](https://clairvoyanceai.com/?ref=runtimewire) on August 25, 2026, introducing Multiplayer AI, live AI-agent sessions that several people can join and work in together in real time. The work stays on the host's computer instead of moving into a cloud workspace, according to [Stardock's announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clairvoyance-adds-multiplayer-ai-letting-multiple-people-work-inside-one-live-ai-session-running-on-your-own-machine-302859683.html?ref=runtimewire).\n\nFor Wardell, Stardock's founder, president and CEO, the release extends a desktop software thesis he has followed since the OS/2 era: useful software should work against the machine people already use. Wardell founded Stardock while attending Western Michigan University, initially as another job to help pay for school. He taught himself OS/2 programming, built the original Galactic Civilizations and turned Stardock into his full-time career after graduating.\n\nClairvoyance applies that history to AI agents. According to Stardock's release, its agents can work with local files and applications while using cloud services including Claude, Codex, Copilot, Cursor and Grok, local models running on the user's hardware, or Clairvoyance's built-in AI. Users assign persistent agents to projects and have them produce reports, dashboards, presentations and other working artifacts.\n\n[Multiplayer AI](https://clairvoyanceai.com/multiplayerai?ref=runtimewire) lets a second person step into a live session, communicate with the same agents and supply information directly while the session and its contents remain on the host machine, according to Stardock. Clairvoyance's [version 0.85 changelog](https://www.clairvoyanceai.com/changelog?ref=runtimewire) says a visitor can create a Staff member, Clairvoyance's term for an AI agent, on the visitor's computer and bring it into the host workspace, where it can read, build and run against the host's files. A guest with interact access can prompt the same agents, redirect work and add agents to the session. The changelog also says large file reads and tool output use a direct peer-to-peer connection between the machines instead of passing through Clairvoyance servers. Clairvoyance labels the changelog draft and provisional, so these remain Stardock's architecture claims rather than findings from an independent technical assessment.\n\nWardell compared the feature to the moment collaborative documents became obvious. \"Everyone understood Google Docs the first time they saw two cursors in one document,\" he said in [the announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clairvoyance-adds-multiplayer-ai-letting-multiple-people-work-inside-one-live-ai-session-running-on-your-own-machine-302859683.html?ref=runtimewire). His bet is that agent software will follow a similar path once people can work together inside the same running session instead of forwarding prompts, screenshots and outputs.\n\n### Wardell's desktop bet gets an AI update\n\nWardell has spent three decades selling software that changes how people use personal computers. Stardock's catalog includes Windows tools such as Fences, Start11, Groupy, Object Desktop and WindowBlinds, alongside strategy games including Galactic Civilizations and Sins of a Solar Empire, according to its [leadership profile](https://www.stardock.com/about/leadership?ref=runtimewire).\n\nThat background explains Clairvoyance's emphasis on the desktop as the place where work happens. Stardock says Clairvoyance runs beside the applications and project directories already on a user's computer, giving its agents a route into local work such as compiling code, processing media or building a dashboard from a spreadsheet on the drive.\n\nStardock says Clairvoyance started as an internal system that its employees used and refined for two years. The public rollout began earlier in 2026, followed by [Beta 1](https://www.stardock.com/news/541269/clairvoyance-beta-1-released-your-ai-staff-can-now-plan-projects-control-your-computer-and-run-locally?ref=runtimewire), [Beta 2](https://www.stardock.com/news/541581/stardock-releases-beta-2-of-clairvoyance-gives-agentic-ai-a-workspace?ref=runtimewire) and a [July 23 Beta 3 release](https://www.stardock.com/blog/542039/clairvoyance-beta-3-brings-the-ai-office-onto-your-own-machine?ref=runtimewire). Those versions added project planning, local model support, credential storage, reusable workspaces, scheduled tasks and remote browser access.\n\nClairvoyance is a Stardock Software product that began as an internal tool its teams used and refined for two years before its public rollout. Clairvoyance's [investor page](https://clairvoyanceai.com/investors?ref=runtimewire) says the product has a growing user base, early paying subscribers and an active partner program, without providing user, subscriber or revenue totals. The cited materials do not disclose outside funding, named investors or a valuation. Clairvoyance's [about page](https://clairvoyanceai.com/about?ref=runtimewire) describes a deliberately small product group responsible for a cross-platform desktop application, web application and server platform, without giving a headcount.\n\nVersion 0.85 also lets users open the same session from different Windows, macOS and Linux computers. The cited materials do not describe the authentication flow for invited participants, the granularity of their access or the audit records produced by a shared session. A new iPhone app can direct agents running on the user's computers, allowing someone to start a build or check a task away from the desk while the host machine performs the work.\n\n### Collaboration without moving the workspace\n\nClairvoyance is an orchestration and workspace layer for models users may already pay for, including Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Cursor and Grok. According to the [version 0.85 changelog](https://www.clairvoyanceai.com/changelog?ref=runtimewire), users can assign different providers to different agents, run some models locally and move work between agents while preserving project memory.\n\nThe multiplayer feature is designed for cases in which expertise and data sit with different people. Stardock offers the example of an employee building a dashboard who needs figures controlled by a colleague. Its [announcement](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clairvoyance-adds-multiplayer-ai-letting-multiple-people-work-inside-one-live-ai-session-running-on-your-own-machine-302859683.html?ref=runtimewire) says the colleague can join the live session, communicate with the same agents and provide the data directly.\n\nTraining may be an early use case. Agent workflows can be difficult to explain through written instructions because much of the skill lies in task decomposition, intervention and recognizing when an agent has gone off course. Stardock says a less experienced user can join an expert's live session, observe the work and participate with the same agents.\n\nAdjacent products approach collaborative agents from different directions. [Dust](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/05/18/3296726/0/en/dust-raises-40m-to-make-ai-multiplayer-inside-the-enterprise.html?ref=runtimewire) reported serving over 3,000 organizations when it announced a $40 million Series B in May 2026, with an enterprise and cloud-oriented product. [Coshell](https://coshell.ai/product?ref=runtimewire) offers shared live sessions for coding agents working with the same files, terminal and browser, while [Relevance AI](https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/06/relevance-ai-raises-24m-series-b-to-help-anyone-build-teams-of-ai-agents/?ref=runtimewire) sells hosted, no-code agent teams for business tasks. [Localfirst](https://localfirst.sh/?ref=runtimewire) provides an architectural comparison centered on keeping agents, data and execution on a user's machine or private network. The cited materials include no independent performance comparisons between Clairvoyance and these products.\n\nThe cited materials leave important control questions open. Clairvoyance's changelog says its cloud infrastructure handles introductions, identity and permissions, while large file reads and tool output move directly between machines. It does not explain the authentication flow, permission granularity, audit records or routing of other session metadata.\n\n### The trust boundary moves to the host\n\nShared access will make permissions and observability central to adoption. Organizations considering Clairvoyance will need to determine what a participant and any Staff member running on that person's computer can reach inside the host workspace. Stardock's cited materials describe the host-machine model and some visitor-machine behavior, but they do not include independent security testing or enough technical detail to evaluate authentication and logging controls.\n\nClairvoyance's [security page](https://www.clairvoyanceai.com/security?ref=runtimewire) says notes created in the desktop application are stored locally, synced information is kept in cloud infrastructure and data used with AI features may be processed by third-party model providers. It also says Clairvoyance selects providers with security practices and contractual data-protection obligations. These are Clairvoyance's documented data-handling claims, rather than an independent assessment of the product.\n\nClairvoyance keeps workspace files and computer actions centered on the user's machine, while model requests may travel to external providers when a user selects a hosted model. Running a local model can keep inference on the hardware. Connecting Claude, Codex or another hosted system introduces that provider's data path even when files and local execution remain centered on the desktop.\n\n### A familiar software model for an unfamiliar interface\n\nClairvoyance's [pricing page](https://www.clairvoyanceai.com/pricing?ref=runtimewire) says the core application is free for personal, non-commercial use. The August 25 release lists a Pro plan at $20 per month, adding cloud sync, team features and included AI tokens. The [version 0.85 changelog](https://www.clairvoyanceai.com/changelog?ref=runtimewire) says hosting a Multiplayer AI session requires Pro, while invited participants can join on any tier, including free.\n\nWardell is approaching agents through the economics of packaged desktop software instead of building a frontier model. Clairvoyance can support several model providers, charge for its workspace and collaboration layer, and let customers supply their own keys or computing hardware, according to its [current plans](https://www.clairvoyanceai.com/pricing?ref=runtimewire). That reduces the product's dependence on winning the model race itself.\n\nThe strategy also fits Wardell's history. In a [2003 account of Stardock's first decade](https://archive.stardock.com/stardock/articles/10year.html?ref=runtimewire), he wrote that Stardock had operated without venture capital and survived the collapse of the OS/2 software market by rebuilding around Windows. Stardock's current financing and any Clairvoyance-specific financing remain undisclosed, so that history does not establish how development is funded today.\n\nMultiplayer AI is the clearest expression of Wardell's desktop approach so far. Clairvoyance is betting that shared work sessions will make agents easier for teams to adopt. Whether organizations accept the visitor access model will depend on controls the cited materials do not describe, along with evidence from independent security testing and customer deployments. The cited materials provide no such testing, deployment results, usage totals, retention data or revenue figures.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stardock-lets-teams-share-one-ai-session-without-moving-it-to-the-cloud", "canonical_source": "https://runtimewire.com/article/stardock-clairvoyance-multiplayer-ai-host-pc", "published_at": "2026-08-25 18:18:36+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-25 18:43:55.294011+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-products", "ai-tools", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Stardock Software", "Clairvoyance 0.85", "Brad Wardell", "Google Docs", "Claude", "Codex", "Copilot", "Cursor"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stardock-lets-teams-share-one-ai-session-without-moving-it-to-the-cloud", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stardock-lets-teams-share-one-ai-session-without-moving-it-to-the-cloud.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stardock-lets-teams-share-one-ai-session-without-moving-it-to-the-cloud.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stardock-lets-teams-share-one-ai-session-without-moving-it-to-the-cloud.jsonld"}}