The m/c is on his own in space when he finds a space ship which was one of a hundred defeated by a consortium of nations a number of years previously. All the nations were scared of the power and evil antics of the space ships but it turns out that the aliens who operated them were dead and the m/c and the AI in the space ship connect and he can safely operate the space ship.
They then go searching for any AIs from the other space ships and when they find them they are able to connect them to power which allows the AI to grow a new space ship around it.
Any help in finding this story would be appreciated.
