The Federation of Korean Industries(FKI) has stressed the need for active deregulation in order to revitalize private investment in artificial intelligence(AI) industries.

The federation made the call on Thursday based on an analysis by British firm Tortoise Media's Global AI Index, which placed South Korea sixth out of 62 countries assessed on their level of investment, innovation and implementation of AI.

The index scored and ranked each country in seven categories: talent, infrastructure, operating environment, research, development, government strategy and commercialization.

The U.S. topped the list followed by China, Singapore, Britain and Canada.

While South Korea ranked within the top three for patents related to AI, it ranked low in private investment.

An FKI official said there is a need to boost national competitiveness in AI given the high impact of the industry on others, including manufacturing and service, stressing the need to revitalize private investment by actively easing legal regulations on the protection of personal and credit information.