[Lighthorse]

The problem of the AI empires not expanding can be solved by chicking on "All systems seem by all players" and for good measure I also chicked on "Omnipresent view of all systems" during game setup in Quadrant. After six turns over half of the AI empires expanded out into two to three other systems bysides they our home system. Yes, I know that its takes away the unknown feature of the game, but its more of a challerage if AI expands outward as quickly as a human does.
A suggestion maybe for AI empire to start with ancient knowledge of the galaxy, may allow them to expand outward rapidly.

That my two cent worth
Lighthorse