WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nvidia (NVDA) on Monday criticized a new effort by the Biden administration to tighten Washington's grip on artificial intelligence chip flows around the world, saying the regulation would jeopardize current U.S. leadership in AI.

The new rule, which is expected to be published as soon as Monday, "threatens to derail innovation and economic growth worldwide," and would "undermine America's leadership," Nvidia Vice President of Government Affairs Ned Finkle said in a statement.

Reuters reported last month on the U.S. Commerce Department's plan for approving global AI chip exports while also preventing bad actors from accessing them. One aim of the restrictions is to keep AI from supercharging China's military capabilities.

Finkle argued America's leading role in AI would be hurt because the rule "would impose bureaucratic control over how America's leading semiconductors, computers, systems, and even software are designed and marketed globally."

The Santa Clara, California-based company also said the rule would not improve U.S. national security and it would control technology that is already widely available in gaming and consumer hardware.

"Rather than mitigate any threat, the new Biden rules would only weaken America's global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the U.S. ahead," Finkle said.

(Reporting by Chris Sanders in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Jamie Freed)