Cerence Board, Execs Rout Shareholder Suit Over Demand Claims

Cerence Inc. brass defeated a lawsuit alleging they harmed the company by misleading shareholders about demand for its car technology software licenses.

The shareholders didn’t make a required pre-suit demand of the board, or properly establish how that ask would’ve been futile, Judge Allison D. Burroughs said in a Wednesday ruling dismissing the case. Burroughs, of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, previously approved Cerence’s $30 million class action settlement to resolve similar securities fraud allegations.

After Cerence, which makes artificial-intelligence-powered assistants for automotives, spun-off from Nuance Communications Inc. in 2019, corporate leaders touted “strong demand” for ...