During chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, virus-specific CD8⁺ T cells become functionally exhausted. Unlike most chronically infected individuals, elite controllers of HIV retain CD8⁺ T-cell polyfunctionality and cytolytic capacity. It remains unclear whether elite controllers manifest T-cell exhaustion similar to subjects with chronic progression of HIV infection. Here we assessed coexpression of PD-1, Lag-3, CD160, and 2B4 as a measure of T-cell exhaustion in a cohort of elite controllers and in chronic progressors. We found that elite controllers have a high proportion of potentially exhausted (PD1⁺CD160⁺2B4⁺) HIV-specific CD8⁺ T cells that is comparable to the proportion in chronic progressors. However, elite controllers also harbor a population of HIV-specific CD160⁺2B4⁺ CD8⁺ T cells that correlates with cytolytic capacity, as measured by perforin expression, a population not commonly present in chronic progressors. We therefore propose that coexpression of CD160 and 2B4 delineates a population of cytolytic CD8⁺ T cells important for the control of HIV.