If this week hasn’t been chaotic enough, it appears that John McAfee has made an unexpected comeback—at least in the digital realm.
The account of the late tech entrepreneur on Elon Musk’s platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), has suddenly sprung back to life. This is significant since McAfee, the unconventional founder of McAfee antivirus software, was discovered dead in June 2021 in a Spanish jail while he awaited extradition to the U.S. His death was determined to be a suicide.
To clarify, McAfee’s X account, @officialmcafee, wasn’t completely dormant following his death. His wife, Janice McAfee, utilized the account, which has over 1 million followers, to share updates and retweets about John. However, on Wednesday night, the account shared something surprising: a statement that McAfee himself had returned—though in AI form.
In its first message since November 2022, the account proclaimed, “I’m back with AIntivirus. An AI version of myself. You didn’t think I would miss this cycle, did you?” The “cycle” referenced seems to indicate the current cryptocurrency surge, especially the rise of memecoins, which has been recently energized by the introduction of Donald Trump’s $TRUMP token.
The post also disclosed the reason for McAfee’s alleged AI comeback: to advocate for a new memecoin.
Speculation quickly spread on X, with users wondering if the account had been compromised. However, the @officialmcafee account responded with another post to alleviate worries, assuring, “John’s account has not been hacked. This is the real deal.”
Adding to the suspense, Janice McAfee released a video on her own X account Thursday morning, affirming that the posts from @officialmcafee were authentic—at least to some extent. While she made it clear that her late husband had not been brought back as an AI, she described the memecoin, named AIntivirus, as a legitimate cryptocurrency project she started to pay tribute to John’s legacy.
John McAfee was familiar with the cryptocurrency landscape during his lifetime. Prior to his death, he encountered numerous legal issues, including indictments for crypto-related fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. These allegations ultimately resulted in his incarceration. Despite having once accumulated a fortune of $100 million, McAfee reportedly lost the majority of his wealth before his passing. According to Janice, he died intestate and without any assets, leaving her without financial backing.
Currently, McAfee’s AIntivirus memecoin has achieved a market cap of $37 million, representing an intriguing new chapter in the story of one of tech’s most polarizing figures.