U.S. officials have discussed limiting sales of advanced AI chips from Nvidia and other American companies on a country-specific basis, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The United States is focused on Persian Gulf countries, the report said, adding that this new approach would set a ceiling on export licenses for some countries in the interest of national security.

The idea has gained traction in recent weeks and deliberations are in early stages and remain fluid, according to Bloomberg.

The U.S. Commerce Department and Nvidia declined to comment, while Intel and AMD did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

The Commerce Department unveiled a rule last month that could ease shipments of artificial intelligence chips like those from Nvidia to data centres in the Middle East.

Under the rule, data centres will be able to apply for Validated End User status that will allow them to receive chips under a general authorisation, rather than requiring their U.S. suppliers to obtain individual licenses to ship to them.

Last year, the Biden administration announced measures to expand licensing requirements for exports of advanced chips to more than 40 countries, including some in the Middle East, that presented risks of diversion to China and were subject to U.S. arms embargoes.