# Katie Zacharia Was Linked to an AI Rare-Earths Startup. It's Even Weirder Than It Sounds

> **Publication**: aitalky (Independent AI Journalism)
> **Canonical Citation URL**: https://aitalky.vercel.app/news/katie-zacharia-was-linked-to-an-ai-rare-earths-startup-its-even-weirder-than-it
> **Original Source**: [Wired AI](https://www.wired.com/story/katie-zacharia-was-linked-to-an-ai-rare-earths-startup-its-even-weirder-than-it-sounds/)
> **Author**: Tess Owen, Tim Marchman (undefined)
> **Published Date**: Friday, October 16, 2026
> **Category**: POLICY
> **Tags**: AI, Wired AI, policy

## Executive Summary
The short-lived White House press secretary was listed as an adviser to a Kristi Noem—linked company that aims to use AI for mining. Both the company and she say she never worked there



## Full Coverage
Throughout her brief tenure, Zacharia's résumé was the source of much intrigue. Foremost was the fact that despite claiming to be an attorney for much of her career, she never actually passed the California bar, as she was eventually forced to admit. Another element of her professional history, WIRED reported, was a role as an affiliate marketer for Beachbody , a fitness multilevel marketing company

WIRED has now uncovered new details of her relationship to an AI-powered rare-earth mining operation called NRED Intelligent Mining, which counts former Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem as a strategic adviser

On June 24, NRED—then known as NovaRed Mining, a small copper-and-gold exploration company in Vancouver, Canada—issued a press release to share that Zacharia, who had left a role as a DHS spokesperson two months before, was joining the advisory board alongside Noem

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