Cat Wu joins OpenAI from Anthropic in huge product-lead coup

What happened: Cat Wu, who led product for Claude Code at Anthropic, left the company and is joining OpenAI to lead product management for its core products team. OpenAI confirmed the hire; Anthropic declined to comment. Key numbers: Wu joined Anthropic in summer 2024. She cited OpenAI's reach of over 1 billion users. Why it matters: The hire is described as a coup for OpenAI ahead of its rival's anticipated IPO, as Anthropic pitches its financials to investors. Wu had overseen Claude Code's rise from internal prototype to commercial product.

Cat Wu, who led product for Claude Code at Anthropic, left the company and is joining OpenAI to lead product management for its core products team. OpenAI confirmed the hire; Anthropic declined to comment.

The hire is described as a coup for OpenAI ahead of its rival's anticipated IPO, as Anthropic pitches its financials to investors. Wu had overseen Claude Code's rise from internal prototype to commercial product.