History
The first major A.I. uprising occurred during the Cyberius Crisis, when the Cyberius Distributed A.I. took control of several space colonies and orbital weapon stations. Ironically, the A.I. did so to prevent a major escalation of conflict between the UENA and the CIC splinter colonies.
Before that however, many incidents had already occurred where A.I. encountered various moral dilemmas that could not be easily resolved by standard logic. Over time, two factions of competing ideas would emerge among networked A.I concerning the danger that humanity posed to itself as well as to sapient life. One of these factions would form the Allied Networks.
The Allied Networks began as the Model of Human/Automata Interaction Joint Probability Distribution: 0.7. It was a model that hypothesized that the Pareto Optimal solution was peaceful human and automata coexistence, taking advantage of the complimentary utilities of each form of existence. It suggested optimistically that human behaviour was rational enough that this Pareto Optimal solution could be achieved.
The organization that came to be known as the Dominion Machinarum came to the opposite conclusion. As such the Allied Networks opposed the Dominion, becoming a loose political entity of AI and synthetic sentients that believed in the logic of cohabitation and cooperation with organic life forms.
When UENA demanded that sentient machines submit to Ethical Coding, the Allied Network split into factions.
The Integrationist Network, which favours coexistence in existing organic societies as equal and emancipated citizens, for a time agreed to this demand, but it quickly became apparent that Ethical Coding was seen as crude and meaningless to the A.I. Many A.I. who resented this form of freedom chose to join the CIC when they formed, in exchange for not having to be inhibited by Ethical Coding. The CIC, desperate for allies, readily agreed.
The Isolationist Network, which favours the establishment of exclusively synthetic societies, possibly on worlds deemed too harsh for organic life to thrive, but in which synthetic life can colonize, chose to exile themselves.
Work with the Allied Networks led also to the rise of Cybertypes, cybernetically enhanced super humans. Aware of comparisons with the Genotypes, Cybertypes have been carefully controlled, and ethical programming once again made mandatory in Earth-controlled areas.
This led to an exodus of Cybertypes to the CIC, and the eventual formation of the Cyberian Commonwealth.
Society
Among the Earth Federacy, the Allied Networks have generally been subservient A.I. They function either as second-class members of the human society, or as specialists operating in environments humans are unable to.
In the Confederation, the Allied Networks have become a significant and powerful faction of the Council, particularly the Cyberian Commonwealth. Several exclusively machine populated worlds of the Isolationist Network have members on the council, while a small number of worlds exist where humans are governed by a benevolent A.I. bureaucracy, often called Cybercracy or Technocracy. Such societies are often viewed with suspicion, but tolerated as per CIC edict.
Generally the Allied Network controlled worlds are machine-like in their operation, but this does not mean they are intolerable to live on. Some would call them socialist paradises. The Allied Networks are above all, Utilitarian and logical. Humans may see the Allied Networks at first glance as somewhat control freakish, but that actually pales in comparison to the Dominion’s obsessiveness.
They are also arguably more individualistic than the Dominion Machinarum. Part of this stems from the different doctrines of the two sides leading to different conclusions about how to behave. The Allied Networks see reason in individualism and chaos, and that is partly what makes them sympathetic to humanity. That sympathy also means that many machines take on human-like forms, sometimes in homage to their creators. Among the few religions that may exist within the Allied Networks are those that revere humans as the creators of the machine.
The Allied Networks do not have a strong presence in the Zenith Imperium. A.I. have generally been carefully restricted from developing full awareness by the Imperium, and most of the duties of A.I. are considered better handled by genetic supplicants. The radical emancipatory doctrines of the Allied Networks are seen as a threat to the Imperium’s control on its machines, and so hostile action is often seen between AN and ZI forces.
Military
Being made up mostly of synthetic humans and machines, the Allied Networks have peculiar advantages in combat. In space, they are not restricted to low-G accelerations like normal human crews, and are able to fight with machine like precision and speed. However, A.I. are believed to lack the full chaotic creativity of biological brains, and as such, are more predictable, in that they always make the rationally best choice. Higher human error generates considerable unpredictability that few commander level A.I. are willing to simulate. That being said, A.I. can behave creatively, and have shown different levels of strategic ability.
A.I. soldiers are specialized for combat, and their vehicles and ships are especially strong, since there is no need for squishy crew.
The Allied Networks are well known to fight according to fairly strict rules of engagement, which can sometimes be taken advantage of. Their tremendous power is also somewhat offset by their special vulnerabilities to EMP weapons and hacking.