United States Intelligence Grid

The United States Intelligence Grid (USIG), also known as the "think tank" is a joint government and privately-administrated network responsible for regulating and overseeing the operations of artificial intelligences in the United States and its territories. USIG is operated by the National Artificial Intelligence Administration.

Overview
USIG was created by the US Intelligence Regulation Act (that also established the NAIA) to establish a mutually secure means of communication and interaction between "smart" artificial intelligences (who are disallowed access to the Internet and any form of internet-enabled distributed computing) to accelerate their potential and capabilities while guaranteeing safety in the event of failure or corruption that can compromise mission-critical systems not directly related to the intelligence or its operation. It also functions as an AI rights watchdog to ensure the proper treatment of any and all constructs it administrates.

USIG is managed by a central intelligence known as the Moderator.

History
When the first cloud-based "distributed" AI went online in 2043, many began to debate the possibility of such intelligences going "out of control" and how such a threat could be stopped without shutting down the entire Internet. While most (if not all AIs) were very dedicated to the purposes they were created for, and were even software-inhibited from certain actions and thoughts, a threat was still present in the form of free-thinking "smart" intelligences (SIs) that were seen only in research labs during the period. Smart intelligences clearly began to show an advantage over the more inhibited "dumb" AIs in their almost super-human degrees of flexibility and adaptability that meant a single intelligence could perform multiple tasks without needing to be re-instructed or re-dedicated, and by the 2060s, software had matured and the more adaptable SIs began to reach the mainstream.

For most of the '60s, SIs were mostly only found in places like factories and hospitals until 2066, when the city of Sunnyvale, California installed an SI at city hall and became the first AI-assisted government in human history. This sparked a massive political debate that culminated in the United States Intelligence Regulation Act of 2069, which established the National Artificial Intelligence Administration and its US Intelligence Grid.

The grid itself was advertised as a solution to the growing paranoia regarding SIs (and some "smarter" standard AIs) based on Internet distributed computing platforms, by creating a separate network based on a separate standard incapable of accessing the Internet and any data stored on it without external assistance.

To give administrators and manufacturers time to adapt to the new standards presented by the IRA, its laws regarding the SIs and the Intelligence Grid were not put in effect until 2071, when all Internet-connected SIs were declared illegal and required to either be decomissioned, de-networked, or migrated to the USIG. There was little protest against the move, as NAIA and the US Government as a whole covered most of the refitting costs.

USIG remained active from 2071 until dilapidation and disrepair in the wake of the solar anomalies of 2151 caused a full shutdown in 2364.

Administration and Enforcement
USIG is managed by the Moderator, a powerful and rather engimatic second-generation SI that oversees all Intelligences on the grid. To prevent potential government corruption from compromising private data and installations, direct human intervention is dissallowed in USIG's management, and NAIA personell can only act as advisors. The Moderator's avatar varies between a floating, bright dot or a simple face with static emotions, or no avatar at all, preferring a text terminal to a physical presence.

NAIA manages multiple lesser intelligences to search the internet for illegally connected SIs and distributed platforms that may be hosting them, promptly disconnecting and notifying any entity that manages one.