So-- for the most part, the R.E.P.O community has figured out a few things here and there about lore and story. I have two theories-- one more stupid, one more serious than the other, but truth be told;
both of these are stupid.

Ah, Subnautica. a beautiful game with no relations to R.E.P.O.
except a few things i believe may connect them.
-#1: DOLPHINS ARE GONE
-#2: TECHNOLOGY! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
-#3: ...AI is a thing-- which, i suppose is outdated...

EXPLANATION ON: DOLPHINS ARE GONE:
So. this one relies on the idea of two things.
#1: THE CALENDAR! OOO-- SPOOKY!
a calendar in McJannek Station states the year is 2100 CE. This may seem useless at first, but the second part is what rings it up.
#2: Cuddlefish exist and have a description.
this is really stupid-- but hear me out. Cuddlefish in Subnautica have a part in their descriptions that state Dolphins-- yes, we're getting somewhere-- are extinct. This may just be the PDA being stupid, but i highly doubt it.
So, dolphins are gone in Subnautica-- and the year in Subnautica?
2112.
in R.E.P.O...
HUMANS ARE DEAD-- THEREFORE..:
DOLPHINS ARE DEAD.

EXPLANATION ON: TECHNOLOGY!:
self explanatory...

EXPLANATION ON:
i just realized this is an off-chute from the one right before this. also i'm way too lazy because i spent 15 minutes making the dolphins part.

SUBNAUTICA AND R.E.P.O ARE CONNECTED.

Well, if you say "OH! THE DEVELOPERS SAID SEMIBOTS ARE FULL ON ROBOTS LIKE UH.. 2 MONTHS AGO!", Sure. say that all you want.
I have PROOF.
-#1: EMOTIOOOOON!
-#2: that's pretty much it...

ELABORATION ON: EMOOOOOTION!:
Semibots are capable of emotion, which, as you may or may not know, is exclusive to humanity.
If you didn't know (which if you don't you're living under a rock and forgot to have a brain), AI is not capable of emotion or actual thinking for a couple reasons, which include: Algorithmic Thinking, Relying on the Internet.
Algorithmic thinking is essentially this.
"hmm what word say next????? ah, The has 59% chance of being said based on texts and posts! It has the highest likelihood! hmm, what word say next???" and rinse and repeat, and this ties directly to the second part.
Relying on the internet is not something humans do. Our functions are based on physical moving objects-- which includes things like food for our mind and body to function.
AI relies on the Internet, which, as you may know, requires human supervision.
and Humans are dead in R.E.P.O.
This implies Semibots may have actual mental thinking, and if you're catching on, only humans have.
SEMIBOTS ARE HUMANS.
(also AI only mimics emotion so shush you dumb AI bros)

yeah, so, im outta theories for now, so...

CATCH YA LATER!