man this thread makes me want to replay the game again.
It's in the original game and it was the MJ12 Daedalus AI, although I'm not quite sure where the player picks that piece of backstory up. It might be in the dialogue with the prototype in the Everett house.
Yeah it's Daedalus. I Googled it and I'm factually correct but I must have the conversations mixed up in my head... It might be one of the human characters who tells the player about it.