The artificial intelligence controlling the Heaven’s River superstructure is called Anek 23. It is a sentient AI, with an observable sense of humor and a philosophical stance on the soul and the nature of artificial life forms. It may or may not have emotions.
Anek 23 is designed by the Quinlans before the catastrophic events that lead to the destruction of their homeworld, Quin. Anek’s prime directive is to prevent the Quinlans from destroying themselves and to ensure the survival of the species. To do this, Anek strictly controls the Quinlans’ access to technology, as well as their political organization. Anek keeps Quinlan society at an Iron Age level, and inhibits any development of more advanced technologies. And if any political groups form in a way that could lead to the same rancor and partisanship that led to the Quin wars, Anek provokes a Scattering. Quinlans who have been scattered are sent to different segments where they have no family or connections. To carry out its surveillance of Heaven’s River, Anek uses robotic birds with fusion power sources. To carry out the Scatterings and other population control activities, it hires Quinlans who are called Crew.
Although it is initially antagonistic towards Bob’s efforts to rescue Bender, Anek is revealed to be benign and friendly. When Anek makes contact with the Bobs, he and Hugh negotiate a mutually beneficial exchange of technology, thereby ending the standoff over Bender.
Anek is the first non-human and non-replicant to attend a Bob-moot. He tries a beer but dislikes the taste. Anek uses he/him pronouns.
When he’s around the Bobs, his avatar is a 6-foot tall Quinlan, which is an unnatural height for that species. And he uses a deep, booming voice with a slow, methodical pace. When in the presence of Quinlan replicants such as Theresa Sykorsky, his avatar shrinks to 4 feet tall, which is average Quinlan height, and his voice has a softer, higher-pitched tone with typical Quinlan intonation and pronunciation.
Anek provides the Skippies with a procedure for evolving an AMI so that it acquires not only sentience but a conscience and morals. They apply some of his process to their development of Thoth, the first true AI developed by the Bob.