I just played with AI, and AI starting point was at water. Comparing to AI at land, at water it works very poorly. After a half an hour, when I released few satellites, AI produces only 2-3 buildings and that it. Same time AI at land will produce dozens of buildings and hundreds of units. v57703 at mac os x.
The AI doesn't support naval yet so water tends to screw it. It's still pretty barebones, lots of behaviours still to go in.
I see you're new to the forums, and welcome! You should check out the FAQ, it would have answered your question. You should also do a search before posting in accordance with the forum rules. The AI doesn't build naval factories or naval anything yet. When playing the AI, you should should play on non-water based maps for the time being.
