SAN FRANCISCO, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in U.S. AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of large numbers of chips, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The rules, which are not yet final and could change, would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to U.S. allies and partners since President Donald Trump's administration rescinded its predecessor's so-called AI diffusion rules, which sought to keep a significant amount of AI infrastructure buildout in the U.S. and route most purchases through a handful of U.S. cloud computing companies.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco)

((stephen.nellis@thomsonreuters.com))