Forget Google and Apple and Facebook, Cyberdyne Systems is the company we should all be talking about today.
The Sunnyvale company was once known for producing smaller components for larger manufacturers of high tech equipment up until the 1980's when they started work developing powerful new microprocessors for the U.S. military.
In 1984, after reverse engineering a CPU they found nearly smashed in one of their hydraulic machines, the company created a network of supercomputers that employed artificial intelligence. The AI was intended to replace humans as commercial and military aircraft pilots as well as controlling military systems and nuclear missiles. The system was called Skynet, which was switched on, August 4, 1997, and became self-aware on August 29, 1997.
The event, known as Judgement Day, caused humans to panic and attempt to shut down the system. However, it was too late. The machines began a nuclear war against Russia, which resulted in global nuclear warfare.
Luckily, a cyborg from the Series 800 Terminator line, was sent back in time to 1995, from the future. The Terminator, a woman named Sarah Connor, her son John, and Cyberdyne's lead researcher, Miles Dyson, were able to destroy the Cyberdyne headquarters. Unfortunately, this only postponed Skynet's planet-wide machine takeover.
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After the destruction of Cyberdyne, its patents fell into the hands of the U.S. government, and a tech company called Cyber Research Systems (CRS). It's unclear if Cyber Research, was a restructure of Cyberdyne, or a division of the United States Air Force. CRS was able to continue development of Skynet, for Strategic Air Command and NORAD (SAC-NORAD), two North American Defense Agencies.
Two days ago at 8:11 p.m. , Skynet went online.
Sometime today, Skynet becomes self-aware. Welcome to the new Judgement Day.
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(Thanks to the Terminator Wiki, and the Terminator nerds who put in countless hours posting all this detailed information.)
