Yesterday, Intel announced that it has abandoned the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, citing "disagreements within the organization" as the cause for its withdrawal from the project.

The company had joined the OLPC board back in July, and it was supposed to contribute funds, as well as technical know-how, to the fledgling project. Intel's announcement is a big blow to the philanthropic OLPC project, which aims to provide huge numbers of low-cost laptops to children in impoverished countries.

Intel spokesman, Chuck Mulloy, said that the company had reached a "philosophical impasse" with the OLPC board, whatever that is supposed to mean. Intel will carry on work on its own low-cost Classmate laptop, instead. OLPC demanded that Intel drop its support for non-OLPC platforms, including the Classmate, and this was more than the chipmaker could stomach. "At the end of the day, we decided we couldn't accommodate that request," said Mulloy. He went on to say that the use of AMD chips in OLPC laptops had nothing to do with Intel's decision.

As of yet, OLPC has issued no comment to Intel's decision to withdraw from the project.

More here.