Compare and contrast. Turn 25 of version 0.91. Same settings as Kowk. I'd changed settings so that planets and warp points can be seen without exploring a system, to aid the AI in it's finding planets to colonise (I'd notice it not exploring systems, and just leaving a ship at the warp point for a bit then sending it home, thus leaving potentual breathable atmosphere planets just out of sight.) Without that, I don't the AI would even have done this well.
(No, I wasn't trying very hard, just spamming colony ships and moving a few frigates I built around. still got third.)
You'll notice that the top rated AI player has a score lower than the lowest ranked AI player in latest version. And that was the Eee, who should benefit more from being able to see all the planets. No other AI came close.