On Wednesday evening, Elon Musk’s xAI sent a rare email to reporters—alerting them that it had received a much-anticipated permit to use gas-powered turbines at its Memphis data center despite blowback from the surrounding community about pollution.
But there was something else unusual about the email: It was from Katie Miller, wife of Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff.
Katie Miller’s departure from the White House set off a wave of palace intrigue over the fact that Stephen Miller remained with Trump while Katie now worked for his estranged cost-cutter in-chief. The relationship between Trump and Musk has only gotten worse since Katie Miller left, with Musk recently threatening to fund a rival political party to the Republicans while Trump has raised the possibility of retaliating against Musk’s companies and taking a “look” at deporting him.
In Katie Miller’s email to reporters, she provided information about evaluations of pollution that regulators had conducted at xAI’s supercomputer site in Memphis. She also included a rare statement from xAI about the new permit that had been issued by the Shelby County Health Department.
“xAI welcomes today’s decision by the Shelby County Health Department,” she wrote. “Our onsite power generation will be equipped with state-of-the-art emissions control technology, making this facility the lowest emitting of its kind in the country. We look forward to being a valued partner to the Memphis Community for years to come.”
Katie Miller also sent at least one other email to reporters at the end of June, pointing out that the City of Memphis had conducted an independent third-party study at sites near the xAI data center and had found no dangerous pollutant levels.
