Cat Wu, former Claude Code product lead, moves to OpenAI; will lead product management for "Core Products," including ChatGPT and Codex (follow-up)

To OpenAI five days after leaving

Cat Wu, who served as product lead for Anthropic's AI coding tool "Claude Code," said on X on Nov. 4 (Nov. 5 Japan time) that she is joining OpenAI. She will lead product management, which plans products and sets development priorities, for OpenAI's "Core Products." According to Business Insider, OpenAI confirmed the hire and Anthropic declined to comment.

Wu left Anthropic with Oct. 30 as her last day. When she announced her departure on Nov. 3 (Nov. 4 Japan time), she did not disclose her next employer. This post came five days after her last day and one day after she announced her departure.

Her stated role is "product management for Core Products"; title unconfirmed

What her own post confirms is only that she will lead product management for Core Products and work with Thibault Sottiaux and the PM team. Her formal title, start date and whether she will report directly to Sottiaux are unconfirmed. The post does not mention Codex, and how much of Codex she will oversee is also unconfirmed. No official announcement from OpenAI has been found.

Sottiaux, who leads Core Products, described his responsibilities in an August interview with TechCrunch as the API, the agent platform, enterprise, all of ChatGPT and all of Codex. He reports to President Greg Brockman. According to The Next Web, OpenAI combined ChatGPT, Codex and its developer API into a single product organization in May, with Sottiaux leading it.

In her post, Wu said she would build agents that have the backs of users and their teams while keeping users in control. At Anthropic, she oversaw not only Claude Code but also "Cowork," which handles office tasks. On the same day, Nov. 4, OpenAI also announced the acquisition of developer tool Pierre to strengthen Codex.

From Anthropic, ahead of its IPO, to a rival

Business Insider described the hire in its headline as a major win for OpenAI, noting that it came weeks before Anthropic's IPO. According to The Wall Street Journal, the IPO is expected in the week of Nov. 16. According to Anthropic's filing, its revenue for January through June 2026 was $16.3 billion.

According to Business Insider, when asked on X whether leaving would let her sell shares earlier than other employees, Wu replied that she did not know and wrote that it was not a factor in her decision. She did not explain the reason for the move in her post. Wu did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. No information could be found that Anthropic has announced a successor.

Claude Code and Codex compete as AI coding tools. According to Anthropic's announcement, Claude Code's annualized revenue exceeded $2.5 billion in February 2026. Codex had 7 million weekly users on July 13, according to a Bloomberg report cited by AI Weekly. Because the metrics differ, revenue versus number of users, the scale of the two cannot be compared directly.

This is the second time Wu has left Anthropic for a rival. According to The Information, in July 2025 she moved with developer Boris Cherny to Anysphere, which runs "Cursor," and returned to Anthropic after about two weeks. At Claude Code, Thariq Shihipar and Anthony Morris also announced their departures in late October.