What company secretly controls the Animus technology in Assassin’s Creed?

Abstergo Industries secretly controls the Animus technology in Assassin’s Creed. In the modern-day storyline, Abstergo presents itself as a multinational corporation while operating as the contemporary face of the Templar Order.

The Animus allows a user to experience genetic memories inherited from ancestors. Abstergo uses this technology to investigate the past and search for powerful artifacts associated with the Isu, an advanced civilization that existed before recorded human history in the series’ mythology.

Desmond Miles is forced to use an Abstergo Animus in the first game. He experiences the memories of Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad while Abstergo scientist Warren Vidic supervises the experiment. The company’s motives gradually become clearer as the modern conflict between Assassins and Templars develops.

Abstergo is therefore not the name of the device, the Templars themselves, or a historical organization. It is the corporation through which the Templars pursue their modern objectives.