[1] Its name comes from Project MAC ("Multi-Level Access Computer" or "Machine-Aided Cognition"[2]) a large sponsored research program located at MIT.
Greenblatt was inspired to write Mac Hack upon reading MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 41,[3] or a similar document describing Kotok-McCarthy, which he saw while visiting Stanford University in 1965.
Mac Hack was written in MIDAS macro assembly language on the PDP-6 computer DEC donated to MIT (the first working PDP-6, serial number 2).
In 1967 Mac Hack VI defeated Ben Landy with a USCF rating of 1510 in game 3, tournament 2 of the Massachusetts State Championship.
[4][7] Greenblatt published the program with Donald E. Eastlake III and Stephen D. Crocker in MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 174 and recorded some games there.