Commercial Roofing Contractors in Allen, TX

Inbenta—a global company whose platform automates customer interactions with intelligent, conversational AI—has announced its new headquarters at One Bethany West in Allen. The move comes two months after Inbenta closed a $40 million investment led by Tritium Partners and named Melissa Solis as the company’s new CEO.

Solis made the decision to transfer Inbenta’s headquarters from the San Francisco area, the company said, putting the new CEO back on turf she’s very familiar with. Solis previously founded Allen-based GIACT in 2004 and went on to lead the identity and payments fraud detection company, which was sold to Refinitiv in 2020 and later acquired by the London Stock Exchange Group.

In January, Inbenta said the $40 million investment will fund future product innovation as well as Inbenta’s expansion into new markets. Founded in 2005 in Barcelona, Spain, Inbenta currently has regional offices in the U.S., Europe, Brazil, and Japan.

Inbenta says its proprietary conversational AI has been trained over a decade “using billions of customer interactions.” Its use in chatbots, knowledge, messenger, and search channels is designed to automate customer interactions and optimize customer experience. The company said it serves over 1,000 customers worldwide with AI-optimized solutions “that can achieve resolutions automatically, reducing the need and cost associated with human intervention.”

Solis says Allen has been a key factor in her success to date. She cites “business support from city staff” and the city’s “strong talent pool” in Allen and North Texas as part of the reason for her return, along with the community’s affordable cost of living and family-friendly setting.

“Allen has a strong sense of community that I think is critically important for any company, especially small-cap companies to grow,” Solis said in a statement. “You have people like those at the Allen Economic Development Corporation, and banks and other companies that are local that really support you and are there to help you. We still care for one another, we like to see people succeed, and I think that’s really what sets Allen apart and makes it different.”

Resources like Tech Titans—a forum that leverages the regional tech community to collaborate, share, and inspire innovative thinking—also helped lure Inbenta’s HQ to North Texas.

“Allen has so much amazing talent,” Solis said in the statement. “North Texas universities and colleges have made significant progress over the past 20 years preparing students for today’s business and technology opportunities. Whereas North Texas firms had to recruit outside of the region previously, today we have incredible talent right here.”

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Another tech firm chose North Texas as its new home. After closing a $40 million investment in January, the AI company Inbenta announced it’s moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Allen, Texas and named North Texan Melissa Solis as the company’s new CEO.

According to Dallas Innovates, the company was founded in Spain in 2005, and since then it’s opened regional offices in the U.S., Europe, Brazil and Japan. Specialized in conversational AI for companies, since the mid-2000s, many reports have placed the company among the top players in the market.

The decision to move the company’s headquarters to Allen comes from the new CEO’s background. Before working for the AI company, Melissa Solis co-founded Giact, an identity and payments fraud-detecting company that was also based in Allen. The company was sold to the American-British financial software company Refinitiv in late 2020, at a time when fraud threats became an increased risk at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inbenta is set to open the new location this summer. According to the Dallas Business Journal, one of the reasons why Allen was picked to be home to the new headquarters is the access to talent.

“North Texas universities and colleges have made significant progress over the past 20 years preparing students for today’s business and technology opportunities,” said Solis in a prepared statement. “Whereas North Texas firms had to recruit outside of the region previously, today we have incredible talent right here.”

Solis also believes Allen does not just offer an amazing talent pool but also community support. “You have people like those at the Allen Economic Development Corporation, and banks and other companies that are local that really support you and are there to help you,” she told Dallas Innovates. “We still care for one another, we like to see people succeed, and I think that’s really what sets Allen apart and makes it different.”

For the corporate relocation, Inbenta is leasing a 5,000-square feet office space in the One Bethany West high-rise located west of U.S. 75 on Bethany Drive. This would be the second California-based tech company to take offices in the building. In September 2021, the mobile network company MD7 LLC took 25,000 square feet of offices to move its headquarters.

FC Dallas played with heavy hearts during their Wednesday evening US Open Cup match at Nashville SC, honoring victims from this past weekend’s mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas.

The club wore black armbands during the 2-0 defeat and donned a pre-match shirt with the message "Allen Strong" – efforts they’ll mirror around Saturday’s rivalry trip to Austin FC as well (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).

FC Dallas head coach Nico Estévez, who sported the "Allen Strong" shirt at GEODIS Park and will do the same at Q2 Stadium for Matchday 12, explained the efforts.

"It's something that happened very close where we are," Estévez said Wednesday of the tragedy that occurred a short 20-minute drive from where they train and play. "The players reached out to me and they wanted to send their support to the victims and to the community.

"We have a group that is very mature and they want to help from their side in any situation like that happened in Allen and other situations that also happen around the world. They want to be proactive. There is a good group of human beings that we have in the locker room and this is why we did it. I support them about that and as a staff also we feel very proud of them."

Tonight we play with heavy hearts ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RGZ5ir4RUX

Allen Strong ♥️We mourn with the family, friends and the community of the victims in Allen, TX. pic.twitter.com/UavId4jP41

— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) May 10, 2023

FC Dallas and the FC Dallas Foundation have launched a Support for Allen jersey auction that will auction match-worn and autographed One Planet jerseys.

Learn more & bid in the auction

A limited number of "Allen Strong" T-shirts will be available for sale at all FC Dallas retail locations beginning May 17 at FC Dallas’ home match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

All proceeds from the auction and sale of the "Allen Strong" T-shirts will go to the Communities Foundation of Texas’ Support for Allen Fund to assist local agencies providing mental health, grief and trauma support to the victims and their families, as well as first responders who may also have been impacted by this event.

The FC Dallas Foundation will make an additional donation to the Communities Foundation of Texas’ Support for Allen Fund.

Donate here

"On behalf of FC Dallas, I want to express our deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the victims and their families affected by the tragic shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets," FC Dallas president Dan Hunt said in a release.

"As a community, we stand together in mourning the senseless loss of innocent lives. We also extend our gratitude to the brave first responders who acted swiftly and heroically in the face of danger. We remain committed to supporting the community and working together towards healing and unity."

North Texas SC, FC Dallas' MLS NEXT Pro team, also showed support over the weekend. On Wednesday, Nashville players players wore black armbands as well.

Tonight, we are wearing black arm bands in memory of those who lost their lives in Allen yesterday. pic.twitter.com/xNVISY0BAv

— North Texas SC (@northtexasSC) May 8, 2023

4:29 PM PT -- New dashcam footage appears to show the moment the gunman started firing off shots at shoppers -- and it looks like he just pulled up, hopped out and started in on a rampage.

The video is chilling. You also seem to see another car pull up right next to it -- although it's unclear if that someone trying to intervene, or another bad actor in this tagedy.

In any case, authorities are now saying the shooter is dead. An official body count hasn't been released.

An active shooter has been reported at an outdoor mall in the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area -- and videos are starting to surface showing the fear and chaos as people run for their lives.

Police said Saturday that they're responding to reports of someone opening fire at the Allen Premium Outlets, and are warning to public to steer clear of this area ... as the situation is fluid. First responders could be seen rushing to the scene and evacuating patrons.

Clips have made the rounds on Twitter, which show tons of bystanders booking it toward the parking lot and out of buildings -- this while multiple gunshots are heard being fired off.

As of now, there've been no confirmed reports about injuries and/or fatalities from the authorities -- but some preliminary info that's starting to circulate suggests there may be as many as five victims so far. The Allen Premium Outlets is currently on lockdown.

Other video shows swarms of shoppers -- including families and children, all of whom are panicked -- forming lines as they trickle into the open area away from the shops.

One video in particular -- which is incredibly graphic -- is making the rounds and appears to show footage taken from a news helicopter that's on the scene -- which seems to show a string of bodies covered in tarps on the ground ... with blood seeping out.

It's unclear if the shooter is still at large, or if the scene is still active at this point. All Allen PD has said thus far is that they're there and dealing with it.

Originally Published -- 3:35 PM PT

Elon Musk is amplifying accounts on Twitter that appear to be insinuating the mass shooting in Allen, Texas was a false flag.

The alleged gunman, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, is accused of killing eight people and injuring seven on Saturday after opening fire at a suburban Dallas shopping mall.

In the following days, law enforcement officials revealed that Garcia had expressed support for neo-Nazi and white supremacist views. The claim was immediately rejected by conservatives as “fake news” given the suspected shooter’s apparent Latino heritage.

Yet an account linked to Garcia on a Russian social media account showed that the alleged gunman not only had a swastika tattoo but repeatedly expressed support for Nazi ideology.

In one post, Garcia even shared a meme about Latino children becoming white supremacists. Still, the information did little to deter prominent right-wing figures, who instead argued that the new evidence only further supported their belief that the shooting was suspicious.

The issue became even more widespread after Musk began responding to users promoting the conspiratorial claims. In response to a tweet from The Redheaded Libertarian that called the shooting a “Psyop” given Garcia’s support for podcaster Tim Pool and the Twitter account LibsOfTikTok, Musk likewise suggested that something strange was occurring.

“This gets weirder by the moment,” Musk said.

In another example, Musk again argued that it was peculiar that Garcia followed LibsOfTikTok and Pool, described by The Redheaded Libertarian as “a Jewish lady and a milquetoast fence sitter.”

“Very strange,” Musk replied.

After the account “End Wokeness” claimed that it was suspicious that the public quickly learned about Garcia’s political beliefs, Musk once again responded, ensuring that the tweet would seen by countless users on the platform.

“Odd,” Musk wrote.

Countless false claims have since been amplified by right-wing users. Pictures of other individuals with the same name as Garcia have been spread online. Others have attempted to paint Garcia not as an avowed neo-Nazi but a Mexican drug cartel or gang member instead.

The shooting is like countless others in that conspiracy theorists will immediately reject any information that they feel reflects poorly on their ideology while only agreeing with data that supports their world view.

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