diff --git a/src/commands/autopilot.ts b/src/commands/autopilot.ts
index 82979fb12..475b33745 100644
--- a/src/commands/autopilot.ts
+++ b/src/commands/autopilot.ts
@@ -161,9 +161,35 @@ export function isPidAlive(pid: number): boolean {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Issue #2503: PID liveness alone is not identity. After a reboot (or plain
+ * PID-counter wraparound) the lock's PID can be reused by an unrelated
+ * process (observed: Apple `AirPlayUIAgent`), which made every new autopilot
+ * exit with "another instance is running" while maintenance silently stopped.
+ *
+ * Cheap identity check: does the holder's command line mention gbrain?
+ * Covers the compiled binary (`/usr/local/bin/gbrain autopilot`) and dev runs
+ * (`bun …/gbrain/src/cli.ts autopilot`). Fail-open: if `ps` is unavailable or
+ * unreadable we return true (keep the pre-#2503 "alive = holder" behavior and
+ * never steal a lock we can't judge).
+ */
+export function pidLooksLikeGbrain(pid: number): boolean {
+  try {
+    const cmd = execSync(`ps -p ${pid} -o command=`, {
+      encoding: 'utf-8',
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
+    }).trim();
+    if (!cmd) return true; // no command visible — can't judge, don't steal
+    return /gbrain/i.test(cmd);
+  } catch {
+    return true; // ps failed (no ps, permissions, exotic OS) — fail-open
+  }
+}
+
 export function decideLockAcquisition(
   lockPath: string,
   currentPid: number,
+  holderIsGbrain: (pid: number) => boolean = pidLooksLikeGbrain,
 ): { action: 'acquire' } | { action: 'exit'; holderPid: number } | { action: 'takeover'; reason: string } {
   if (!existsSync(lockPath)) return { action: 'acquire' };
 
@@ -178,7 +204,12 @@ export function decideLockAcquisition(
   const sameProcess = Number.isFinite(holderPid) && holderPid === currentPid;
   const alive = !sameProcess && isPidAlive(holderPid);
 
-  if (alive) return { action: 'exit', holderPid };
+  if (alive) {
+    // #2503: a live PID that is not gbrain is a recycled PID, not a rival
+    // autopilot — take the lock over instead of exiting forever.
+    if (holderIsGbrain(holderPid)) return { action: 'exit', holderPid };
+    return { action: 'takeover', reason: `foreign process holds stale lock (pid ${holderPid})` };
+  }
   return { action: 'takeover', reason: `dead pid ${raw || '<empty>'}` };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/status.ts b/src/commands/status.ts
index de223cf16..bdeea0283 100644
--- a/src/commands/status.ts
+++ b/src/commands/status.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import type { BrainEngine } from '../core/engine.ts';
 import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { gbrainPath, loadConfig, isThinClient } from '../core/config.ts';
 import { callRemoteTool, unpackToolResult } from '../core/mcp-client.ts';
+import { pidLooksLikeGbrain } from './autopilot.ts';
 import { VERSION } from '../version.ts';
 import {
   buildSyncStatusReport,
@@ -101,6 +102,8 @@ export interface AutopilotStatus {
   lockfile_present: boolean;
   pid: number | null;
   running: boolean;
+  /** #2503: lock PID is alive but belongs to a non-gbrain process (recycled PID). */
+  foreign_lock_holder?: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface StatusReport {
@@ -302,6 +305,7 @@ function buildAutopilotStatus(): AutopilotStatus {
   const lockfile_present = existsSync(lockPath);
   let pid: number | null = null;
   let running = false;
+  let foreign_lock_holder = false;
   if (lockfile_present) {
     try {
       const raw = readFileSync(lockPath, 'utf-8').trim();
@@ -318,6 +322,12 @@ function buildAutopilotStatus(): AutopilotStatus {
           const code = (err as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code;
           running = code === 'EPERM';
         }
+        // #2503: liveness is not identity — a recycled PID owned by an
+        // unrelated process must not report autopilot as running.
+        if (running && !pidLooksLikeGbrain(parsed)) {
+          running = false;
+          foreign_lock_holder = true;
+        }
       }
     } catch {
       /* unreadable lockfile, leave pid=null/running=false */
@@ -328,6 +338,7 @@ function buildAutopilotStatus(): AutopilotStatus {
     lockfile_present,
     pid,
     running,
+    ...(foreign_lock_holder ? { foreign_lock_holder } : {}),
   };
 }
 
@@ -592,7 +603,10 @@ function renderHuman(report: StatusReport): string {
       if (a.running) {
         lines.push(`  running (PID ${a.pid})`);
       } else if (a.lockfile_present) {
-        lines.push(`  stale lockfile (PID ${a.pid ?? '?'} not alive). Run \`gbrain autopilot --install\` to restart.`);
+        const why = a.foreign_lock_holder
+          ? `PID ${a.pid ?? '?'} is held by a non-gbrain process`
+          : `PID ${a.pid ?? '?'} not alive`;
+        lines.push(`  stale lockfile (${why}). Run \`gbrain autopilot --install\` to restart.`);
       } else {
         lines.push('  not running. Install with `gbrain autopilot --install`.');
       }
diff --git a/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts b/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts
index f3795ec5a..062722031 100644
--- a/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts
+++ b/test/autopilot-lock.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { describe, test, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'bun:test';
 import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { tmpdir } from 'os';
-import { decideLockAcquisition, isPidAlive } from '../src/commands/autopilot.ts';
+import { decideLockAcquisition, isPidAlive, pidLooksLikeGbrain } from '../src/commands/autopilot.ts';
 
 let tmp: string;
 let lockPath: string;
@@ -43,12 +43,22 @@ describe('decideLockAcquisition', () => {
 
   test('keeps a lock whose holder is alive regardless of age', () => {
     writeFileSync(lockPath, String(process.pid));
-    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid + 100_000)).toEqual({
+    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid + 100_000, () => true)).toEqual({
       action: 'exit',
       holderPid: process.pid,
     });
   });
 
+  // #2503: a live PID recycled by an unrelated process (e.g. AirPlayUIAgent)
+  // must not block autopilot forever — identity mismatch means takeover.
+  test('takes over a live lock held by a foreign (non-gbrain) process', () => {
+    writeFileSync(lockPath, String(process.pid));
+    expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid + 100_000, () => false)).toEqual({
+      action: 'takeover',
+      reason: `foreign process holds stale lock (pid ${process.pid})`,
+    });
+  });
+
   test('takes over malformed and empty locks', () => {
     writeFileSync(lockPath, 'not-a-pid');
     expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid).action).toBe('takeover');
@@ -56,3 +66,18 @@ describe('decideLockAcquisition', () => {
     expect(decideLockAcquisition(lockPath, process.pid).action).toBe('takeover');
   });
 });
+
+describe('pidLooksLikeGbrain', () => {
+  test('fails open on a dead pid (ps errors → true, never steal blind)', () => {
+    expect(pidLooksLikeGbrain(4194303)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('recognizes a live non-gbrain process as foreign', () => {
+    const child = Bun.spawn(['sleep', '30']);
+    try {
+      expect(pidLooksLikeGbrain(child.pid)).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      child.kill();
+    }
+  });
+});