One laptop per child project loses Intel

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Intel is planning to leave the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), just six months after joining.

Intel decided to leave after the founder and chairman of the OLPC project, Nick Negroponte, asked the company to stop selling its Classmate PC, a low-cost laptop designed for students in developing countries, while involved in the project.

According to Intel, the OLPC asked the company to stop working with any company producing low-cost laptops.

Intel’s Classmate PC is a rival to OLPC’s XO laptop, which is based on a microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

In July, Intel and OLPC agreed to collaborate on the development of an Intel-based version of the XO laptop, setting aside an earlier disagreement when Negroponte accused Intel of cutting the cost of Classmate PCs to sabotage OLPC’s programme.