I vote subtly implied. The disassembly stopped at the exact point she expressed she was frightened. The "My God" at the end I interpreted as "we've done it", as in created self-aware AI with a survival instinct.

The other explanation, that a single operator has the authority to release a one-off self-aware super-being into the wild without considering the implications of such a decision and without oversight feels harder to swallow.

That's a good theory except, that you wouldn't want a creature with self-respect etc being treated as merchanise; she says she'll comply but, at least in humans, that resolution wouldn't last forever. No, I vote for the demo being incoherent, "enh, get it done, it's just a demo".

But, they say the demo was made a year ago and that they've made much progress since - why not incorporate the new stuff? Grrr.

I was at least waiting them to imply it somehow too, but she was obviously different from others when she was in the box. idk