diff --git a/backend/app/services/conversation_context_service.py b/backend/app/services/conversation_context_service.py
index 33722672..e09bf659 100755
--- a/backend/app/services/conversation_context_service.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/conversation_context_service.py
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ class ConversationContextService:
             # Calculate elapsed time
             created_at = focus_group.get('created_at')
             if created_at:
+                # MongoDB may return naive datetimes — make timezone-aware before subtracting
+                if created_at.tzinfo is None:
+                    created_at = created_at.replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
                 elapsed_minutes = (datetime.now(timezone.utc) - created_at).total_seconds() / 60
             else:
                 elapsed_minutes = 0
diff --git a/src/components/focus-group-session/DiscussionPanel.tsx b/src/components/focus-group-session/DiscussionPanel.tsx
index dffb6101..7bad6693 100755
--- a/src/components/focus-group-session/DiscussionPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/focus-group-session/DiscussionPanel.tsx
@@ -77,12 +77,13 @@ const DiscussionPanel = ({
   // Calculate reasoning panel visibility - only show when user explicitly expands it
   const reasoningPanelVisible = reasoningPanelExpanded;
 
-  // Sync localAiModeActive back to null once parent prop has caught up
+  // When server reports AI is NOT active, clear any optimistic local override immediately.
+  // This handles the case where AI mode fails/stops before the frontend confirms it started.
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (localAiModeActive !== null && localAiModeActive === isAiModeActive) {
+    if (!isAiModeActive && localAiModeActive !== null) {
       setLocalAiModeActive(null);
     }
-  }, [isAiModeActive, localAiModeActive]);
+  }, [isAiModeActive]);
 
   // Fetch reasoning history when in AI mode
   useEffect(() => {