PewDiePie enlists Elon Musk to host Meme Review in last ditch effort to beat T-Series

The Tesla founder took to Twitter to reveal his collaboration with the world's most popular YouTube channel

The battle between PewDiePie and T-Series to be the world's most popular YouTube channel has taken a bizarre turn, after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk revealed he hosted PewDiePie's 'meme review'.

PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjelberg, has been the top channel on the world's most popular video-sharing platform since 2013. His dominance has been challenged in recent months by the Indian channel, which posts Bollywood film trailers and music videos.

The rise of T-Series has proved controversial within some corners of the YouTube community, seen as a David vs Goliath-style contest between an independent creator and a major corporate brand.

For PewDiePie supporters, T-Series' popularity reflects a perceived shift in YouTube's focus towards larger brands that have more potential for generating revenue.

Many of the Swedish star's fans have lobbied Elon Musk on Twitter to join the battle and on Monday it appeared the Tesla founder finally relented.

"Did meme review last night with Justin Roiland from @RickandMorty," Musk tweeted.

T-Series was set to take over the top spot in October, however a sustained campaign has allowed PewDiePie to remain the number one channel.

Last month, PewDiePie became the first YouTube channel to pass 80 million subscribers and currently has 86.1 million subscribers – just 9,000 more than T-Series.

PewDiePie has previously stated that he "doesn't really care about T-Series". But he has also made calls to his legions of followers across social media to "do their part" in stopping the T-Series takeover.

Some fans have gone to extreme measures to support PewDiePie, with one US-based YouTuber coordinating a guerilla advertising campaign that saw him hire billboards, bathroom adverts and radio ads to promote PewDiePie.

"T-Series is growing four-times faster than PewDiePie and if I don't do anything PewDiePie won't be the number one most-subscribed-to YouTuber in the world," the YouTuber, who goes by the name MrBeast, said in a video. "Therefore, I spent all my money on ads so he can remain as the number one most-subscribed-to channel in the world."

Another PewDiePie supporter defaced a section of the Wall Street Journal website with messages of support for PewDiePie. The same hacker also took over internet-connected printers to spread the message.

The message stated: "PewDiePie is in trouble and he needs your help to defeat T-Series."