Intel leaves OLPC after Classmate sale embargo

Intel has pulled the plug on its involvement in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, saying OLPC founder Nick Negroponte expected the chip company to stop selling its Classmate PC while it was a part of the program.

The news, first reported on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, comes just six months after Intel and Negroponte agreed to settle their differences and join forces, united in their goal to bring computing power to emerging nations.

According to Intel, Negroponte asked the chipmaker to stop selling its Classmate PC while it was part of the OLPC, currently shipping its XO laptop based on a chip from AMD. The Classmate PC was one of the sources of friction between Negroponte and Intel before they joined forces in July: Negroponte went on 60 Minutes in May and accused Intel of selling Classmate PCs below cost in order to keep OLPCs out of the hands of needy children.

Intel and OLPC were working on an Intel-based version of the XO laptop, according to an Intel spokesperson, but the OLPC insisted that Intel end its production of the Classmate PC. Even more surprising, Intel is saying that the OLPC actually asked the chipmaker to stop working with any company that produces low-cost laptops, such as Asus's Eee PC.

"We have said for a long time that we don't believe there will be one single solution" for getting laptops in the hands of poor children, the spokesperson said. "There are some basic fundamental differences in our approaches."

No one answered the phone at the OLPC headquarters, and an e-mail to public relations representatives seeking comment on Intel's allegations was not immediately returned.