Claude Code Product Lead Cat Wu Joins OpenAI to Run Core Products

What happened

On Nov 3, Wu posted a farewell on X, writing that Friday had been her last day at Anthropic and recalling how she joined the Claude Code team two years earlier. About 27 hours later, in the early hours of Nov 5, she announced on the same platform that she was joining OpenAI to lead product management for Core Products. Business Insider reported her departure from Anthropic on Nov 4 and the appointment on Nov 5, with OpenAI confirming the hire to the outlet.

At OpenAI, Wu reports to Core Products lead Thibault Sottiaux and works with enterprise product lead Nick Turley and consumer product lead Ashley Alexander. Her remit covers ChatGPT, enterprise products and Codex — OpenAI's coding product that competes directly with Claude Code. In her post, she said her focus would be building reliable agents, and noted that OpenAI reaches more than 1 billion users.

Wu joined Anthropic in August 2024 and, alongside Claude Code creator Boris Cherny, took the product from an internal tool to a commercial product, while also leading product work on Cowork. In July 2025, she and Cherny briefly moved to Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, and returned to Anthropic about two weeks later. Anthropic disclosed in February that Claude Code's annualized revenue run rate had passed $2.5 billion, doubling since the start of the year, with enterprise customers contributing more than half.

Wu is the third core member of the Claude Code team to leave publicly within two weeks. Before her, Anthony Morris, who built the desktop version of Claude Code, announced his departure on Oct 23, and engineer Thariq Shihipar announced his on Oct 24; neither named a destination. Wu is the first of the three to say where she is going. As of Nov 4 reporting, Anthropic had not named her successor.

The same week, OpenAI announced on Nov 4 that it would acquire Pierre Computer Company, planning to fold its Code Storage service into Codex; its Trees and Diffs open-source libraries are already used in Codex. The price was not disclosed, and closing depends on customary conditions, including regulatory approvals. Meanwhile, Anthropic filed its S-1 on Oct 26 and an amendment on Nov 2; the roadshow is expected to begin in the week of Nov 9, with a listing targeted for the week of Nov 16, and the valuation discussion has come down to $1.1 trillion to $1.3 trillion.

Statements

In her post announcing the move, Wu wrote: “Some news: I'm joining OpenAI to lead product management for Core Products!” She added that she respected OpenAI for “showing the world that scaling works” and “bringing AI to over a billion people,” and said she would work with Sottiaux to “build agents that have your back and your team's, and keep you in control.”

Sottiaux quote-posted Wu's announcement about four minutes later, writing: “Welcome Cat. Stoked to be building together soon.” OpenAI president Greg Brockman also reshared Wu's post on X to welcome her. Wu did not say why she left Anthropic, and Business Insider reported that Anthropic declined to comment.

Goldman Sachs spokesperson Nick Carcaterra told Bloomberg on Nov 2 that after a period of experimentation, the bank assessed factors including productivity and risk management and put the tools “in the hands of those who are best suited to leverage them for the long term.” Goldman had updated internal guidance in October restricting Claude Code and GitHub Copilot to its roughly 12,000 engineers and its strats group, with traders and bankers losing access.

Anthropic's amended S-1, filed Nov 2, disclosed regrettable attrition of about 1% for the 12 months ended Sept 30. That company-wide figure stands in contrast to three core members of the Claude Code team leaving publicly within two weeks.

Key facts

1. Announcement: Wu announced the move on X on Nov 5 (00:25 UTC); she had posted her farewell to Anthropic on Nov 3 (21:33 UTC), about 27 hours earlier
2. New role: head of product management for OpenAI's Core Products group
3. Reporting line: reports to Core Products lead Thibault Sottiaux
4. Works with: enterprise product lead Nick Turley and consumer product lead Ashley Alexander
5. Remit: ChatGPT, enterprise products and Codex
6. Focus: building reliable agents; her post noted OpenAI reaches more than 1 billion users
7. At Anthropic: joined in August 2024, led product work on Claude Code and Cowork
8. Departure: Oct 30 was her last day at Anthropic
9. Claude Code's scale: Anthropic disclosed in February an annualized revenue run rate above $2.5 billion, doubling since the start of the year, with enterprise customers contributing more than half
10. Other departures: Anthony Morris announced his departure on Oct 23 and Thariq Shihipar on Oct 24; Wu is the third core member of the Claude Code team to leave publicly within two weeks and the first to name a destination
11. Same-week deal: OpenAI announced on Nov 4 it would acquire Pierre Computer Company; price undisclosed, closing subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals; Code Storage to be folded into Codex, Trees and Diffs libraries to stay open source
12. Listing timeline: Anthropic filed its S-1 on Oct 26 and an amendment on Nov 2; the roadshow is expected to begin in the week of Nov 9, with a listing targeted for the week of Nov 16; the valuation discussion has come down to $1.1 trillion to $1.3 trillion
13. Enterprise use: Goldman updated internal guidance in October restricting Claude Code and GitHub Copilot to its roughly 12,000 engineers and its strats group (Bloomberg, Nov 2)
14. Not disclosed: Anthropic has not named Wu's successor; Wu did not say why she left; OpenAI has issued no formal company announcement