In beta 3 and beta3A, one of the new features was that the AI would no longer trade or just give out starbases to players to help them.
The net result of my AI change was that instead of it trading a starbase or giving it to you to help you, the game would just crash instead.
The important point was that the change log was correct -- the AI WOULD NOT trade those starbases with you or give them to you.
Beta 4 should be up shortly...