Elon Musk turns to Tamil film meme to flay Apple-ChatGPT deal

Elon Musk has once again expressed his disapproval of Apple’s integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, this time using a meme from the Tamil film Thappattam (2017) to do so.

In a series of tweets on X, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO called the partnership an “unacceptable security violation” and raised concerns about potential privacy breaches stemming from Apple sharing user data with OpenAI.

The meme he used to make his point features a still from Thappattam showing a man and woman sharing coconut water, implying that Apple’s data sharing with ChatGPT could lead to privacy vulnerabilities. Musk captioned the meme ‘How intelligence works.’

Musk is known for his unconventional style of communication, and his use of the Tamil film meme has drawn attention to Thappattam and its lead actor, Durai Sudhakar. “I have been receiving calls continuously since this morning,” Sudhakar shared. “Many Tamilians from abroad have expressed happiness over the development. I am grateful to Elon Musk for sharing a meme from my film Thappattam and making it globally recognised.”

Thappattam, starring Durai Sudhakar and Dona Rozaria, is about the life of a folk artiste from Tamil Nadu.

Sudhakar, known as ‘Public Star’, also expressed willingness to take on diverse roles. He said, “Although I started as a hero, I don’t mind playing an anti-hero, like I did in Kalavani 2, or taking on strong supporting characters, like in Pattathu Arasan.” He added, “I am currently working on a few films in crucial roles and listening to a couple of scripts.”