Jan 7 (Reuters) - A technology industry group on Tuesday

urged President Joe Biden's administration to refrain from

issuing a last-minute rule that would control global access to

AI chips, warning the restrictions would jeopardize U.S.

leadership in artificial intelligence.

The Information Technology Industry Council, representing

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

, said the rule, which could come out as soon as Friday,

would place arbitrary constraints on U.S. companies' ability to

sell computing systems overseas and cede the global market to

competitors.

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.

In a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, ITI

CEO Jason Oxman criticized the administration's "insistence" on

publishing the rule in the final days of Joe Biden's presidency.

Donald Trump will be inaugurated Jan. 20.

"Rushing a consequential and complex rule to completion

could have significant adverse consequences," Oxman said in the

Jan. 7 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

While ITI appreciates the commitment to national security,

the letter said, "the potential risks to U.S. global leadership

in AI are real and should be taken seriously."

The group asked that any such controls be issued as

proposed rulemaking, rather than a rule, given the significant

geopolitical and economic implications.

Neither the Commerce Department nor the White House

immediately responded to requests for comment.

Industry opposition to the expected rule has become

increasingly blunt and public.

The Semiconductor Industry Association issued a statement on

Monday night. And on Sunday, Ken Glueck, executive vice

president at Oracle, said in a blog post that rather

than target activities of concern, the rule "drops the Mother of

All Regulations on the commercial cloud industry, regulating...

nearly all commercial cloud computing globally for the first

time in history."

He said the "Export Control Framework for Artificial

Intelligence Diffusion," as the draft rule is titled, "will go

down as one of the most destructive to ever hit the U.S.

technology industry."