Jan 9 (Reuters) - Nvidia ( NVDA ) on Thursday criticized a

reported plan by the Joe Biden administration to impose new

restrictions on AI chip exports, saying that the outgoing U.S.

leader should not "preempt incoming President Trump" by enacting

a last-minute policy.

"We would encourage President Biden to not preempt incoming

President Trump by enacting a policy that will only harm the

U.S. economy, set America back, and play into the hands of U.S.

adversaries," Nvidia ( NVDA ) Vice President Ned Finkle said in an

emailed statement.

The U.S. Commerce Department and the White House did not

immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside

regular business hours.

Reuters reported exclusive details last month on the

Commerce Department's plan for approving global AI chip exports

while also preventing bad actors from accessing them. A key aim

of the restrictions is to keep AI from supercharging China's

military capabilities.

Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that new export

regulations could be announced soon, adding that a group of U.S.

adversaries would effectively get blocked from importing these

chips, while the vast majority of the world would face limits on

the total computing power that can go to one country.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) Finkle said the reported policy was disguised as an

"anti-China move" and warned that the extreme country cap will

affect computers around the world and push the world to

alternative technologies.

"This last-minute Biden administration policy would be a

legacy that will be criticized by U.S. industry and the global

community," Finkle said.

The Information Technology Industry Council, representing

companies like Amazon ( AMZN ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta

, has said the rule would place arbitrary constraints on

U.S. companies' ability to sell computing systems overseas and

cede the global market to competitors.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in his first term in

office, imposed restrictions on the sale of U.S. technology to

China citing national security. Trump's second term begins on

Jan. 20.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were down more than 1% during extended trading

on Thursday after the Bloomberg report.