The IRIS Datalink is a machine intelligence centered around the IRIS Core, a supercomputer that is planetary in scale. Ironically, the exact origins of the IRIS Datalink and Core are unknown.
IRIS's creators were clearly advanced enough for megastructural engineering and extremely complex computing and artificial intelligences. However, nearly every trace of their civilization seems to have vanished. It could be possible that their creators still exist, however in a far different state than when they created IRIS.
The IRIS Core lay dormant for an unknown amount of time; potentially millennia. For some reason - be it a failsafe or luck - IRIS activated. Through introspection of its software and hardware, it was clear that its purpose was to collect and catalog as much data as possible. After reverse-engineering technology left by its creators, IRIS now looks to the stars to fufill its mission.
The "Primary Link" of the IRIS Datalink is the head processing unit for entire machine intelligence. It oversees all actions done by the larger machine intelligence, and guides the efforts of individual processing units towards the larger goal of data collection.
Given the IRIS Datalink's primary directive is that of research, the intelligence is rarely aggressive. However, the intelligence tends to not focus on building diplomatic relations either. It will tend to accept research sharing agreements, as long as it calculates that it will gain from the deal.
Currently none.