June 11 (Reuters) - The Biden administration is

considering further restrictions on China's access to chip

technology used for artificial intelligence, Bloomberg News

reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The measures being discussed would limit China's ability to

use a cutting-edge chip architecture known as gate all-around,

or GAA, the report said.

GAA is a type of transistor architecture that helps improve

chip performance and reduces power consumption.

The United States has been working to limit Beijing's access

to advanced AI chips, such as those designed by leader Nvidia ( NVDA )

, through tightened trade restrictions amid fears that

China may use the technology to bolster its military.

With the scope of the potential rule still being determined,

it is not clear when officials will make a final decision, the

report said.

"The new controls are part of an effort by allied

countries to each impose separately controls they had agreed to

several years ago during Wassenaar Arrangement multilateral

regime meetings but that were not ultimately approved because

Russia blocked the consensus-based regime from publishing the

controls," said Washington lawyer Kevin Wolf, a former Commerce

official.

Wolf noted that in March, the UK imposed controls over

technology for integrated circuits with "Gate all-around

Field-Effect Transistor" (GAAFET) structures, which are

generally for advanced node integrated circuits. "The U.S. and

other allies are thus expected to impose this GAAFET and many

other earlier-agreed-upon controls this summer," Wolf said.

The rule is not yet finalized after industry officials

criticized the first version as overly broad, the report said,

adding that it is unclear whether the ban would restrict China's

ability to develop its own GAA chips or seek to block U.S.

chipmakers and other overseas companies from selling their

products to Chinese firms.

Leading semiconductor firms including Nvidia ( NVDA ), Intel ( INTC )

and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), along with chip

manufacturers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ) and

Samsung are aiming to start mass production of chips

with the GAA design within the next year, according to the

report.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Intel ( INTC ) declined to comment. The other companies

did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment,

while the U.S. Department of Commerce declined to comment.

Stricter restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors

to China have already hampered chipmakers' position, with

companies such as Intel ( INTC ) and Qualcomm saying their sales

would take a hit after the U.S. revoked some of their export

licenses for a customer in China.

The Bloomberg report also said there have been some

early-stage discussions about limiting exports of high-bandwidth

memory (HBM) chips.

HBM chips, such as those made by South Korea's SK Hynix

and Micron Technology, help speed up AI

applications and are used by companies like Nvidia ( NVDA ).