Mira Murati, the chief technology officer at OpenAI, the influential artificial intelligence start-upswerteplay, said on Wednesday that she would leave the company after working there for more than six years.

In a memo she sent to employees and later shared on X, Ms. Murati said she was stepping away to “create the time and space to do my own exploration,” though she did not elaborate on what those next steps would be. “For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we’ve built,” she said.

Hours later, OpenAI’s chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a vice president of research, Barret Zoph, announced their plans to leave as well. Mr. Zoph said in a post on X that he was “exploring new opportunities,” while Mr. McGrew said in a separate post that it was “time for me to take a break.”

The OpenAI executives are exiting the start-up as its chief executive, Sam Altman, and others are working to transform it into a traditional for-profit company, according to two people familiar with the talks. OpenAI is now controlled by the board of a nonprofit organization that Mr. Altman and his co-founders created in late 2015 to oversee the start-up’s technologies.

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While becoming a for-profit company is not expected to happen until next year, OpenAI is in talks for a new round of investment that could value the company at as much as $150 billion, a huge leap from its last round at $80 billion. The United Arab Emirates’ technology investment firm, MGX, is among the potential investors, which also include Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and Tiger Global, three people familiar with the conversations said.

OpenAI is seeking cash because its costs far outpace its revenue, the three people said. It annually collects more than $3 billion in sales while spending about $7 billion.

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