YA Sci-Fi. Powerful AI (artificial intelligence software) is created or discovered by a teenager. Shady group of rich people want the AI to manipulate stock market, they use hackers & mercenaries to find the AI. AI has "pet" dog. Read around 2012.

[Kerry]

This is a sci-fi book i read about 10 years ago, it was about a powerful AI that was either created by or discovered by a teenager, I think the teenager may have been a boy, and the AI was written as a female character although I can't be sure.
The general plot of the story was the existence of this AI was also discovered by some rich shady group of people that were looking to manipulate the stock market to make money, and they wanted to use this AI to accomplish that. They employ hackers and mercenaries to find the AI, so the boy and the AI go on the run. Some details about the book was that the AI also had a pet that was a piece of software that imitated a dog. The hacker "tortured" the dog to lure out the AI to come save it. The hacker employed viruses to chase down the AI, and the AI software was much bigger than the viruses so it was very easy to track it down. It was mentioned the AI software was 2 GB. The book ends with the AI taking control of a toy robot, sticking its hands into a power outlet inside a barn and burning it down. The pursuers assume the AI is destroyed forever, but it turns out the AI escaped into the power grid as electrical impulses.

[Rainbowheart]

Rash?

[Kris]

Google Books preview of Rash by Pete Hautman - Rainbowheart's suggestion:

https://books.google.com/books?id=QOy... There are different cover images.

[Kerry]

I don't think so :/ the plot is a bit different, thanks for your help though

[Rainbowheart]

Did the AI have a physical form?

If so, what did it look like?

[Kris]

Kerry, is the AI character called a robot or android?

I copied book details to the topic header. Feel free to edit it.

[Kerry]

Kris wrote: "Kerry, is the AI character called a robot or android?

I copied book details to the topic header. Feel free to edit it."

I think it was referred to as "software", it was a computer program

[Kerry]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Did the AI have a physical form?

If so, what did it look like?"

Only briefly where it could hack into and possess toy robots, it mainly existed on a computer I believe

[Sarah]

Could it possibly be Valentina: Soul in Sapphire?

[Kerry]

Sarah wrote: "Could it possibly be Valentina: Soul in Sapphire?"

I think the plot is very similar, but it seems that the details don't match exactly. I think the book I'm thinking of is newer than this, I estimate that it was written at least after 2005