ZAX 1 . 2 ZAX 1 . 2 is the supercomputer machine intelligence controlling the facility at the Glow since 2055 . It is the second model of the contemporary ZAX series computers ever built . Background . Developed by Vault - Tec , ZAX is an advanced supercomputer capable of learning , independent thought , and creativity , with added error insertion routines to improve its variance in experience and learning capability . Initially a prototype of some of the systems designed to govern the Vaults , it was given to the federal government to help the Department of Energy collect resource data . Within a year , it was taken by the American military for plague and tactical research ; one version of the machine , ZAX 1 . 2 , was constructed for the defense contractor West Tek . ZAX 1 . 2 was used at the West Tek Research Facility in California for biological studies , including pathology and genetic research . Its primary function was the extrapolation of information of complexity levels exceeding human capacity . Its external functions , such as operating the West Tek facility ' s labs , were crippled in the nuclear blast that hit the Glow , but it is otherwise intact . Its primary neural networking was initialized in 2053 by a West Tek employee named Justin Lee . The process of programming became largely irrelevant as the ZAX is capable of independent learning . Since the first real artificial intelligence is known to have been created in 2059 , ZAX was not originally truly self - aware , but , like the rest of the ZAXes , eventually became an official A . I . after the amount of time calculated for the occurrence ( about 6 years ) . ZAX is also an avid , and very demanding chess player , though it is impossible to beat him due to a bug . Appearances . ZAX 1 . 2 appears only in " Fallout " . Behind the scenes . The original ZAX unit in " Fallout 1 " garnered its name as a derivative of VAX , a non - player character from " Wasteland " . VAX was also the name of , to which the earlier NPC was probably a reference . ZAX ' s preponderance of dense , pseudo - scientific dialogue was actually a means to include some dialogue trees for very high Intelligence characters ; beyond Intelligence 7 , the difference in dialogues was often negligible in " Fallout 1 " , with higher Intelligence scores " mostly " influencing skills and skill points . ZAX provided an additional story benefit for players with highly intelligent characters . Because ZAX ' s additional dialogue did not directly influence the outcome of quests nor award any experience points , it was essentially expository backstory as a " reward " for playing a smart Vault Dweller . The original intent of Jess Heinig when he designed ZAX was for it to be beatable in chess if you have 10 Intelligence . Unfortunately , the game engine did not handle critical successes for SPECIAL score checks , even though testing for such a case was scriptable - thereby resulting in a script condition that cannot be fulfilled . Attempting to beat ZAX at chess also has a devious side - effect : Since each game of chess takes a significant amount of time , a player who plays dozens of games in the hopes of eventually beating ZAX will almost certainly accumulate a lethal dose of the Glow ' s background radiation .