SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A high-ranking executive at OpenAI who served a few days as its interim CEO during a period of turmoil last year said she's leaving the artificial intelligence company.

Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, said in a written statement Wednesday that after much reflection she has “made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI.”

“I’m stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration,” she said.

She spoke positively of the company and its CEO Sam Altman in the departing statement, describing it as “at the pinnacle of AI innovation” and saying it's hard to leave a place one cherishes.

Murati was suddenly catapulted to be the company's interim CEO late last year after the board of directors fired Altman, sparking upheaval in the AI industry. The company later brought in another interim CEO before restoring Altman to his leadership role and replacing most of the board members who ousted him.