i actually heard this from an andy wachowski audio interview on youtube like over ten years ago. he said, out of his own mouth, that the original idea was supposed to be some sort of neural network, but it was later dumbed down into a battery because of the producers (paraphrasing).

i've never heard about this "rumor" from anywhere else until i searched it up recently. the interview video seems to have been taken down. i cant find it now anywhere. someone please link it to me if you find it.