Claude Code Team Loses Three Key Members in Two Weeks

Huo Xing Cai Jing reports that recent months have seen a series of departures from the Claude Code team under Anthropic. On November 4, Cat Wu, Head of Products for Claude Code and Cowork, announced her departure from Anthropic. Prior to this, engineers Thariq Shihipar and Anthony Morris, developer of the Claude Code desktop version, publicly bid farewell on October 24. At the time of his departure, Thariq Shihipar recommended following Cat Wu, suggesting she would provide updates on Claude Code’s future developments. Just eleven days later, Cat Wu also announced her departure. Cat Wu had previously joined AI coding tool Cursor alongside Claude Code’s creator Boris Cherny in July 2025, but both returned to Anthropic two weeks later. In July of this year, Jenny Wen, Head of Design for Claude and Cowork, also moved to Cursor as Design Lead. Despite these departures, Anthropic continues to expand overall. Its IPO filings show employee headcount rising from approximately 940 at the end of 2024 to about 5,300 by the end of September this year. Over the past 12 months, the company has disclosed an involuntary attrition rate of approximately 1%, representing the proportion of employees who chose to leave despite the company’s efforts to retain them.