John McAfee is back from the grave as some sort of AI ghoul-slash-memecoin, and his widow's picking a fight with Elon Musk

John McAfee
(Image credit: John McAfee (via Twitter))

These days, dead lunatics don't stay dead for long. Take a bow John McAfee, one of the most wild personalities in computing, who was best-known for the antivirus software that bears his name but lived an absolutely wild life beholden to no-one. McAfee died in a Spanish prison cell in 2021 when he was due to be extradited to the US to face charges of cryptocurrency fraud: An autopsy declared the cause of death was suicide, a verdict later confirmed by a Spanish court.

Needless to say this hasn't stopped speculation, mainly instigated by McAfee's own pronouncements while alive, that he was murdered in some conspiracy. McAfee posted this on X in 2019:

"Getting subtle messages from US officials saying, in effect: 'We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself'. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm."

You may wonder about the spelling of "whacked." As ever, McAfee was using this claim to promote something called $Whackd. That was McAfee's first memecoin venture and now we can say for sure it isn't his last.

McAfee's X account burst back into so-called life on January 23. "I'm back with AIntivirus," says the account. "An AI version of myself. You didn't think I would miss this cycle did you?"

If you go to the AIntivirus site, there's a nice picture of McAfee looking all digital and a button to "chat with John." I tried, and discovered that the AIntivirus account has been suspended on X, presumably for impersonating a dead person.

It soon became clear that Janice McAfee, John's third wife, is behind the scheme.

"For those of you who think I am tarnishing John's legacy you clearly have no idea who John McAfee was," posted Janice McAfee. "Whackd was the first meme coin John created. The same person who helped John create Whackd is the same one who worked on AIntivirus… I believe if John was still alive he would absolutely love the idea of having an AI version of himself. He would probably pick a fight with it."

That at least seems accurate. And rather brilliantly, after the McAfee AI account was suspended by X, his official account decided to pick a fight with Elon Musk. "Thanks Elon Musk," says the John McAfee account. "There is always some government, or some corporation, that will try to do anything to maintain the status quo. But the cat is out of the bag on this one now. What are they going to do. Kill John again?"

Don't cut yourself on that edge. The project has a Medium page explaining what it's all about: "AIntivirus is not just another meme token," it booms unconvincingly, "AIntivirus is the cure for other meme coins!" There are plenty of promises about products that are apparently set to launch this year but, of course, not much in the way of hard detail. The token's price has fluctuated wildly since launch, with some estimates putting its total value between $25 and $30 million dollars but who really knows: If you do buy this one, good luck.

Well, it's a bizarre coda to a bizarre life. McAfee made several fortunes through various business ventures, but spent the last decade of his life embroiled in legal troubles. He was described by police as a "person of interest" in the murder of American Gregory Viant Faull, a neighbour, but never charged. He also tried to be the Libertarian candidate for US president twice, in 2016 and 2020, but was nominated on neither occasion.

How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus - YouTube How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus - YouTube
Watch On
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
A rendered concept image of an imaginary real Bitcoin against a stylized digital/electronic background
Bitcoin hits a new all-time high, $Trump is stymied by $Melania, and I'm over here having a full-blown existential crisis
Fugitive crypto baron Do Kwon is arrested.
'Lunatic' crypto fugitive Do Kwon finally extradited from Montenegro to the US to face charges over $40 billion crash
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: Elon Musk listens as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. As is tradition with incoming presidents, Trump is traveling to Washington, DC to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House as well as meet with Republican congressmen on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
'Elon is a father who gets lots of sex' somehow leads to renewed claims that Elon Musk superfan Adrian Dittmann is actually Musk himself
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: Elon Musk listens as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. As is tradition with incoming presidents, Trump is traveling to Washington, DC to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House as well as meet with Republican congressmen on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Elon Musk and Asmongold are beefing over who the best gamer really is, and no matter who wins, we lose
 In this photo illustration a novelty Bitcoin token is photographed on a US Dollar bank note, on January 4, 2025 in Bath, England. The Cryptocurrency market has recently received a significant boost by the election of Donald Trump with hopes of the start of a policy framework that could see Bitcoin as a strategic asset
Man charged with $65,000,000 worth of cryptocurrency heists was reportedly discovered through chatting on Discord with a company they allegedly stole from
FBI 10 Most Wanted poster.
The FBI put a $5 million bounty on the 'Cryptoqueen' last year but still hasn't found her, so take your pick: Russia, South Africa, or murdered on a yacht in 2018
Latest in Gaming Industry
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
Typing on internet search toolbar: What am I doing?
How a Microsoft exec managed to pitch Microsoft Word through the genius tactic of being able to actually use it in a 'type-off' demanded by clients: 'I was the only one who'd actually been a secretary'
Half-Life wallpaper - Gordon Freeman
Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box
Gabe Newell looks into the camera, behind him is a prop of a turret from Team Fortress 2.
Gabe Newell's cult of personality is intense, but a Valve exec who worked with him says his superpower is how he 'delighted in people on the team just being really good at what they did'
The Spy from Team Fortress 2 holds up a folder with an accusatory expression.
One of Valve's original executives shares a very simple secret to its success: 'You can't use up your credibility' by trying to make bad games work
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.
Gabe Newell had his eyes on a social network in the '90s that 'was not in a games context at all'—meaning Valve-owned social media could've been a very real thing
Latest in News
Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, with a 18A SRAM test wafer
Former Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger becomes executive chairman of a 'Technology Platform Connecting the Faith Ecosystem' to work on Christian AI using DeepSeek
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
A plastic duck dressed like a circus weightlifter
The 5th highest-rated game on Steam in 2022 is back with a multiplayer sequel
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
An April Fool's Day Palworld game concept about dating Pals
From Palworld movies to Palworld TV shows: 'Everyone under the sun pitched us every idea you can imagine,' says Pocketpair's communications director