Brand Engagement Network Inc. (NASDAQ: BNAI) shares prospered Friday. The company, purporting to be an innovator in AI-powered customer engagement solutions, today announced the termination of its Exclusive Reseller Agreement with AFG Companies, Inc. and the filing of a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, against AFG and its CEO, Ralph Wright Brewer III. The lawsuit alleges fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and the concealment of a ransomware attack on their network shortly before the agreement was executed.
The Agreement, signed in August 2023, was intended to expedite BEN’s entry into the automotive market. However, AFG’s failure to provide access to the agreed-upon operational-ready data platform hindered BEN’s ability to deliver its AI solutions to dealerships. BEN believes these issues caused significant delays in key automotive initiatives and irreparably damaged trust in the partnership.
“We believe AFG’s actions significantly disrupted our efforts to modernize dealership operations,” said Paul Chang, Chief Executive Officer of BEN. “Terminating the Agreement was essential to protect our strategy and enable us to focus on delivering impactful AI solutions to the automotive industry.”
BEN is finalizing preparations to launch its Automotive AI Agent, a solution that integrates with major automotive data and service platform providers and supports over 13,000 dealerships nationwide.
BNAI shares captured a penny, or 2.1%, to 61 cents.
