Fired White House Press Secretary Zacharia Was Linked to an AI Mining Startup
After being fired five days into her job as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia tried to explain her past. WIRED found that NRED, a mining firm advised by ex-DHS chief Kristi Noem, announced her as an adviser, though she appears never to have worked there.
Katie Zacharia was dismissed five days after taking the post of White House press secretary in the US administration. On her last day, she tried to explain her professional history, which WIRED has been examining since her appointment. The latest findings concern her link to the Canadian company NRED Intelligent Mining, which says it uses artificial intelligence in mining rare earths and other minerals.
The advisory board announcement
On June 24, the company, then called NovaRed Mining, a small copper and gold exploration firm in Vancouver, issued a release saying Zacharia, who had left a job as a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) two months earlier, was joining its advisory board alongside former DHS secretary Kristi Noem. The release said she would offer “strategic guidance” to the board.
On Friday, when WIRED asked whether she was still on the board, Zacharia replied, “That was fake,” and referred the magazine to marketing professional Sam Amsterdam. He said the release was issued without her consent. Valentin Saitarli, the company’s chief technology officer, who says he is becoming CEO, confirmed that a role was discussed but “never materialized.” The release was still on the company website on Friday, and an archived page listed her as management as of at least July.
The company's shift
The Globe and Mail reported that NovaRed had no revenue and held only $65,689 in cash in January. In spring, the firm began filling its advisory board not with geologists but with people tied to the defense sector and politics. This month it announced a pivot to an AI platform called “MetalCore.”
Phil Ehr, a retired US Navy commander running for Congress in Florida as a Democrat, said Noem’s arrival caught him off guard. He resigned from the board soon after she joined.
