What is the name of the fictional company that operates the Animus in Assassin's Creed?

Abstergo Industries is the fictional company that operates the Animus in Assassin's Creed.

Abstergo is presented as a huge modern corporation controlled by the Templar Order. Its research uses the Animus, a device that lets a person experience genetic memories inherited from an ancestor. The company therefore provides the modern setting that connects the series' historical adventures to its continuing secret war.

In the first game, Desmond Miles is held by Abstergo and made to relive the memories of his ancestor Altaïr. Later games show that Abstergo has commercial, scientific, military, and media interests, allowing the Templars to influence society on a global scale.

Abstergo Industries is not the same as the Assassin Brotherhood, which opposes the Templars. It is also distinct from Abstergo Entertainment, a subsidiary introduced in later stories to turn genetic-memory research into entertainment products.