[Captain Kwok]

I've had some success in the upcoming v0.92 version getting the AI to explore more systems and expand faster by making resupply depots the first priority in a new system before spaceports, designated more ships as explorers, and tweaking construction queues for facilities...

However - at some point the AI just stops expanding and goes into a comatose state regardless if they have excess resources. I'm thinking that the AI stops building design types once it reaches some number of total ships/units for the number of colonies it has and that is what is preventing further expansion.