KITT (an acronym for Knight Industries Two Thousand) is a fictional computer that controls the high-tech Knight 2000, a black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am T-top automobile. The voice for KITT was provided by William Daniels, who requested that he not be credited for his work.
In the original series' history, K.I.T.T. was conceived and designed by the late Wilton Knight, a brilliant but eccentric billionaire and the founder of the "Foundation for Law and Government", (commonly shortened to "FLAG") and its parent Knight Industries.
K.I.T.T.'s main cybernetic processor was first installed in a mainframe computer used by the United States government in Washington D.C. However, Wilton saw better use for "him" in the Foundation's crime-fighting crusade and eventually the system was installed in the vehicle. K.I.T.T. was in fact the second vehicle built by Knight Industries with an artificial intelligence. His predecessor was K.A.R.R., the Knight Automated Roving Robot. K.A.R.R. was programmed for self-preservation, but this proved to be dangerous to the Foundation's interests. K.A.R.R. was later deactivated and placed in storage while K.I.T.T. was given to his new operator Michael Knight (the new identity of Michael Long).
Unlike K.A.R.R., K.I.T.T. is programmed primarily to protect Michael and all human life at all costs. This is made clear in the pilot episode when Michael asks Devon Miles if K.I.T.T. will protect anyone driving it. Devon's answer is that K.I.T.T.'s primary function is the preservation of human life, and Michael's in particular.