Cat Wu Says They Are Joining OpenAI to Lead Product Management for Core Products
Some news: I’m joining OpenAI to lead product management for Core Products! I have a lot of respect for OpenAI for showing the world that scaling works, for bringing AI to over a billion people, and for believing great products are core to the mission. I’m excited to work with @thsottiaux, an incredible PM team, and everyone across OpenAI. Together, we’ll build agents that have your back and your team’s, and keep you in control, so you get more time for the people and work you love. Lots to learn, and lots to build. Please keep your feedback coming!
Context
An early Claude Code builder moving to lead OpenAI core products is a clear talent shift between the two labs fighting over agents and coding tools.
Cat Wu (@_catwu) was an early Claude Code team member at Anthropic and posted on Nov 3 that they had left that company. Olivier Godement (@thsottiaux) works on product at OpenAI and publicly welcomed the hire. Core Products here means the main ChatGPT and related consumer and platform surfaces.
Deep dive
Cat Wu (@_catwu) posted late on Nov 4 Eastern that they are joining OpenAI to lead product management for Core Products.
Wu wrote that they respect OpenAI for showing that scaling works, for bringing AI to over a billion people, and for treating great products as core to the mission. They said they are excited to work with Olivier Godement (@thsottiaux), the PM team, and others across OpenAI on agents that have users' backs while keeping people in control.
The move follows Wu's Nov 3 post that they had left Anthropic, where they were known for early Claude Code work. Godement quoted the announcement and said he was stoked to build together soon. The post does not give a start date or say which exact ChatGPT surfaces fall under Core Products.
Talent flowing from Anthropic's coding tools team into OpenAI's product leadership matters because both labs are racing to own agent and coding workflows. It also lands on a day when OpenAI announced other product and security news, and when another Anthropic growth hire, Austin Lau, said he had joined OpenAI.
The announcement passed about 2.7 million views.
What to expect next
Watch for Wu's first public product launches under the Core Products title and for more Anthropic alumni moves. Competitors will read this as OpenAI doubling down on product managers who know coding agents. Users may notice faster iteration on ChatGPT agent features if the hire is tied to that roadmap. Reporting may later clarify scope and start date.
Any joint posts with Godement on agent product direction would be an early signal of what Core Products means in practice.